A Different Genealogy: Diverse Inheritance
by Natarii-loves-Chocolate-milk
Summary: Side Story/Prequel to A Different Genealogy; The start of everything - The story of Minato Namikaze and Mikoto Uchiha, and the origins of Naruto Uzumaki are all revealed here. MinatoMikoto, MkotoFugaku, KushinaMinato, KushinaInochi, KushinaFugaku.
1. Act I: This Girl Is Not Whacko

**DIVERSE INHERITANCE**

* * *

**ACT I  
****~ THIS GIRL IS NOT WHACKO ~**

* * *

"Fugaku? What are you doing in sealing?" Minato asked his friend incredulously; it was no secret that he had no talent with the art.  
"My cousin is taking the class, and Uncle Teiyaki didn't want her taking a class filled with boys by herself - my dad thought it would be a good learning experience" Fugaku grumbled, slumping into the seat behind his blonde friend.

Another blonde seated next to Minato, one with a long paler ponytail and paler eyes than his seatmate, frowned in confusion.  
"What does that make Kushina and Tsume then? Chopped liver?" he asked.

"Uncle Teiyaki is certain that theyre both cross-dressing" he grumbled.  
"He's not the only one… did you see what Kushina did to the Hokage mansion last week?" Minato asked, looking somewhere between disgusted and awed.  
"Dude, it was impossible to miss it! My old man was in stitches!" Inochi chuckled.  
"You sure that wasn't you?" Fugaku asked.

Inochi blushed a shade of light red.

"I honestly don't know what you see in that girl…" Minato grumbled.  
"You just don't like her because she's better with ninja techniques than you are" Inochi stuck his tongue out at the blonde boy, and received a blow to the head for his actions.

A loud squall of laughter from the corridor signalled the arrival of their subject and Minato groaned, burying his head into folded arms. Fugaku mad no show of displeasure openly, but had he been looking Minato would have seen the shiver generated by another, equally loud voice.

"God, it's too early for that much noise," Minato grumbled, feeling Inochi dashing from his seat towards the classroom door.

"Kushinaaaa! Minato hit me again!" he pouted to the redheaded girl.  
"Don't worry, not like it'll kill you! You need some sense beaten into you sometimes anyway!" a girl with wild brown hair and red triangles on her face grinned.  
"Tsume! That's mean!" a pale black haired girl chided.  
"Aw, lighten up Mikoto! You're so serious all the time!" Kushina grinned, recovering from her own laughter and giving the blonde boy her usual morning hug.

"I'm not! I just don't think you should make fun of…" she trailed off, sighing in exasperation.

Mikoto wondered why she even bothered trying to explain herself anymore. Her friends were rather incomparably wild compared to her. It was a wonder they were even friends in the first place; she often felt like a peacekeeper of sorts. Leaving her two friends to the company of Yamanaka boy, she walked up to the bench occupied by her cousin. Her eyes strayed for a few moments to the sleepy looking blonde in the desk before, before sliding in beside the black haired frowner.

"I'm really sorry about this Fugaku; I tried talking him out of it but you know how my dad is" she apologized sincerely.

"It's not your fault; my dad was horribly eager as well. I can just look over my illusion notes while I'm here instead" he relied, just as sincerely.

She could feel someone staring at her, and flicked her gaze back to the yellow-haired boy seated on the bench in front. His hair was undeniably blonde, and eyes undeniably blue. They were both too bright to be a trait of the Yamanaka clan though.

He was giving her a curios look, and upon catching her gaze, he jerked in shock before turning his gaze back to the book on sealing. It was a level 7 book, same as hers, and she wondered if he would be willing to go over the level 8 review materials with her; the advancement test was coming up.

She blushed when she realised she was staring - something she did not notice being noticed by Fugaku - and buried her nose in her own book. She would have to look out for him in her other classes; the non-Yamanaka interested her.

"Inochi Yamanaka, Kushina Uzumaki, Tsume Inuzuka, will you three cease your antics and get to your seats!" the teacher roared entering the room.

Mikoto did not get a chance to talk to the blonde for the rest of the lesson; unbeknownst to her, Minato was equally disappointed. Fugaku wanted to murder his friend for validating his uncle's fears, and for being forced into the class in the first place.

* * *

Minato had never held much of an interest in girls; plenty were interested in him, but they all had better things to worry about than dating with the third ninja war beginning to rage around the village walls. And in any case, they had irritated him beyond belief.

However, Fugaku's cousin was not like the irritating ones; she was not loudly serious like Kushina or Tsume were, but she had a firm goal. Through sparring practice (in which they had been placed in the same class for), they had gotten better acquainted with each other.

- - - - - - -

He had ventured conversation with Fugaku's cousin after finishing his furious spar with his red-haired rival, hurrying to reclaim his own kunai before the black haired girl finished collecting her own. Her own spar with Fugaku seemed to have resulted in fireballs at some point, judging by the scorches.

The gods seemed to be smiling on him, for she was severely lagging behind the class with collecting the tools of their future trade. She greeted him with a small smile as he grinned, bending to pick up a one of her knives. The conversation ranged from the war, to Inochi's obvious crush on Kushina, before eventually venturing on their goals.

"Eh? You don't have the Sharingan? I thought…" he trailed off sheepishly, picking up the collection of kunai he had dropped.  
"I can activate it… it just doesn't work well for some reason. It makes me dizzy, and I end up collapsing after five minuets. I got the memory though!" she smiled optimistically with the last statement.

He maintained eye contact, sensing her explanation was not over, classmates packing up their kunai and shuriken around them.  
"Everyone in the clan think's I'll be useless as a ninja, so I'm going to prove them wrong" she finished, picking up the last of her shuriken.

There did not appear to be any left, and they head back to the school building side by side, catching up with their classmates.

- - - - - - -

Her quiet determination reminded him of his own goals; to make his mother eat her words was, albeit, less honourable but it would take as much determination and similarly even more effort. He had a disturbing impression that nothing would meet her expectations.

Throughout their remaining year at the Academey, they were frequent companions - testing the other on the make up and use of seals for their respective advancement tests. Mikoto also kindly acted as a rather strict trainer for his sub-par ninja techniques with the result that he finally trumped her friend in class rankings.

He wasn't quite sure when his well hidden crush developed, but when her she suddenly began to grow, he found himself surreptitiously glaring at the perverts in the classroom; Fugaku found this equally irritating since his uncle was fond of the phrase 'I told you so'.

Thus, when the teams were announced after graduating, he was sincerely hoping to be on the same team as his friend's cousin. Unfortunately, the gods were not smiling on him that day. Much to his and Fugaku's horror, the second team mate of Team 4 was Kushina Uzumaki (she was none too pleased with the arrangement herself).

"You've gotta fucking kidding me!" she groaned, banging her head onto the desk.  
"Speak for yourself!"  
"This is going to be a nightmare," Fugaku grumbled to himself.

It was not that they did not get along; they were friends of a sort, but Minato and Kushina grated on the others nerves after a certain amount of time passed. They simply were not meant to be on a team together. There would be shouting, headaches, and most likely injuries in their future.

At least their teacher was halfway decent; the toad Sannin already had a long list of accomplishments from the last war, and a few more from the current one.

Mikoto founder herself a member of Team 3 with the younger of the Hyuuga twins (Hizashi), and the boy from the Hatake clan (Sakumo wasn't it?) under the guardianship of Torifu Akimichi. Tsume, much to her horror, was placed in Team 3 with the older stoic Byakugan boy (Hizashi) and the ever-silent Shibi. To her further horror, they were placed under the guidance of Minato's perfectionist mother.

Last was Inochi; he was grouped with the lazy Nara boy, and the eating-machine Akimichi under the female team-mate of Jiraiya. He was openly heartbroken upon learning he would not, as hoped, been placed with the fiery whirlpool refugee. Even worse was their teacher - the short tempered buxom female team-mate of his own team leader, Tsunade Senju.  
Team 5 was in for a rough ride in Minato's opinion.

He gave a small wave and a grin to Mikoto as he was dragged out of the room after their own teacher by her fire-headed friend, receiving a smile and a wave in reply.

The introduction to their teacher was short; goals were stated (to be a skilled clan head, making people eat their words, sending Iwa ninjas straight to hell, and the all round consensus of a good stint in the ANBU), likes mentioned (Reading, Gardening, and Salt Ramen), and dislikes voiced (sweet foods, Obsessive people, and Iwa ninjas) before being subjected to a torturous final exam.

For the next few years, their time was filled with training, D-Ranks, training, an odd C-Rank, and more training before the Chunin exams were due to take place in Sunagakure. For those few years, Minato was lucky to catch a glimpse of Mikoto once a week, their schedules and training clashed horribly.

The only time they ever saw each other for a lengthy period was during the seal-level exams. One such exam, a few weeks after Minato's sixteenth birthday, was horrendously difficult for both of them; creating a seal that linked two people was no easy task for the most accomplished of seal masters due to the finicky and detail of the seals required.

The fact that their test subjects were rather hyperactive young puppies was also slightly off-putting - questionable animal welfare aside, it was difficult to write the seals when the adorable young dogs insisted on licking their faces at every turn.

He passed the exam, though it was not without a fashion from his own black retriever puppies, and was more relived it was over than proud he had passed. Mikoto however, was not so lucky; she had managed to write the seals, but the connecting seals within the seal itself were out of alignment thanks to the energy of her baby canines, and se failed.

"I can't believe I messed up on something so easy!" she berated herself, slumping down on the stool beside him.

He had taken her to one of his favourite stalls on the spice merchants' street; exotic stews and soups were always on offer, the war-haggard owner Masashi was always exuberant in welcome and portion. He wasn't that well known, but to Minato it was a hidden gold-mine of a stall.

"It's not that bad, and the exam comes around every two months!" he chided, dipping into his soup - it was tangy and spicy with rice and kidney bean in it. It was supposedly a common dish in desert-swept wind country.

"I know it does, but I still can't believe I made such a stupid mistake after all that effort! I've been studying for this exam for six months already! And I blow it by messing up with something as rank-beginner as connection seals! It's so frustrating! I'll never get into security division without a decent sealing level!" she protested, blowing on her own flatbread wrapped meal; it was a very spicy chicken thing oozing with cheese.

Mikoto had, after some thought, taken an interest in the security division of the ANBU; aside form the usual Anbu missions, they were tasked with sustaining the village security seals and techniques that kept Konoha hidden to enemy villages. It wasn't very exciting, but the skill of the sealers was what had kept the majority of Iwa's forces from finding their village's exact location.

"You're worried about that? Worry about the Chunin exams first! You have to be Jonin before Anbu, and before that, you should worry about the Chunin exams in Suna! Theyre only two weeks away now!" he berated with a grin, waving his (thankfully empty) spoon to make his point.

She blushed and dug into her chicken meal to hide her embarrassment.  
"I forgot about that…" she mumbled, trying to ignore the teasing grin on his face.

* * *

"I never want to see a single grain of sand again!" Kushina grumbled wearily as the exhausted team entered the hotel the Konoha ninja had rented for the exams.

The exams had been more of a survival test than anything else; three days in the desert trying to keep their token from being destroyed by other teams, getting lost in the multitudes of sandstorms, or eaten by giant sand geckos. The geckos had been no problem, once roasted courtesy of Fugaku, but the sand was another matter entirely; it got everywhere. In clothes, in packs, in hair, in secured water, in roasted geckos, it was a gritty rabies!

"If I could drink to that, I would" Minato replied, traipsing up the stairs in the direction of their room; there was an agreeable grunt from Fugaku.  
"If we have to re-take these, we are not coming here to take them! I'd consider Iwa over all this ground up rock!" Kushina growled.  
"You think there's going to be another? Two more years and we'll be at loggerheads with Suna too" Minato commented dryly.

They reached their floor with notable breathlessness, opening the door to their room to find three awaiting figures already occupying it. Inochi was a loud blonde greeting, near suffocating his female team-mate with Tsume (who was only slightly less exuberant). Mikoto greeted them with a calm smile and a large bandage on her upper left arm.  
Fugaku raised an eyebrow as his blonde team-mate turned a shade paler.

"I got bitten by one of those giant geckos! Torifu-Sensei said they didn't even have teeth!" she complained, her voice raising barley an octave; Mikoto never shouted.  
"One of them spat at Kushina; she tried blowing it up, but Fugaku had to use Phoenix Flower Technique on it. Theyre not that bad roasted," Minato commented, grimacing weakly at the memory; Kushina had been far from pleased with that turn of events.

They made small talk, catching up from the last few months of separation eagerly; sealing tests, new techniques, missions (a vehement hatred of the daimyo's errant cockatiel was expressed by both would be Chunin), and training were all discussed.

"I came up with this awesome idea for a technique without hand seals! I haven't got it quite yet though, I don't have good chakra control, so getting the rotation right is proving tiresome" Minato complained, flopping down onto one of the tatami mats.

"Do you want to go practice then? There nothing to do here! Its just sand… and more sand," Mikoto asked, complain at the large amounts of sand with hesitance; she didn't want to offend any listening Suna ninjas, but there was so much damn sand!

Minato considered it; he decided this would be a good idea since he would gain the benefit from a session on chakra control, and he would manage to monopolize time with her, unfortunately, his brain decided on a different kind of activity, and voiced it without consent.

"How about… err, I mean, will you go on a date with me?"

Mikoto's stunned expression was joined by the disbelieving stare of Fugaku, catcalls of _'finally growing a pair!'_ from Inochi, and various other unwanted attention from his fellow Genin before Mikoto finally smiled, and gave an affirmative nod.

* * *

The group of friend waited until the had calmly and professionally filed out of the Hokage's office before delving into delighted howls an whoops of laughter. The reason for their enthusiasm? Promotion from Genin to Chunin. The night was a series of celebratory drinks and what seemed like an infinite number of parties from the other lucky ninja who had also been promoted.

A loud and nearing violent argument between Kushina and Inochi was a dampener on the evening, but the celebrations in general ought weighed the small cloud; it wasn't all that uncommon to see the two arguing lately, they were far too similar for their own good. Both stubborn, loud, and neither was prone to admitting they were wrong. They clearly doted on the other but… they still argued.

The same could be said of Minato and his own girlfriend of six months (their date in Sunagakure had gone very well), but they were not so similar in the ultimately poisonous ways Kushina and Inochi were; where they were both relatively quiet compare to their two friends, Mikoto had more energy in her manner than Minato. Moreover, unlike the two longhaired ninjas, Minato had an idea of when it was time to burry his pride.

However, their relationship was not without its issues; Minato's mother did not care for her son's girlfriend. She was polite, very polite, and not openly hostile to her. It was not the girl herself Koharu found so displeasing. It was her clan that she was so irked by; having married his father purely for the political advantages to herself and future progeny, she wanted no affiliation with what she saw to be a rival clan.

She far preffered Kushina; a refugee girl from one of Konoha's old allies in the war as an addition to the family would do wonders for the public view, and she had no qualms in hinting at that. His father did his best to rein her in - far more open minded than his wife and possessing a greater iota of plain care for thir son's opinion - but he had his limits.

Those limits were made obvious the night before Mikoto was due to leave on her first mission as a team leader during dinner with her parents and five-week-old brother Obito.

The dinner was tense for such an easygoing family - a retired ninja and his wife making a living with their Senbei shop was not usually prone to awkward silences at the dinner table. Mikoto found it particularly unnerving, old enough to realise something important was about to be revealed and that it would not be anything pleasant. She wished she were a baby again like Obito - only concerned with sleeping and eating.

"Miki, the clan elders have issued a contract towards you" her father began warily, not meeting the suspicious look in his daughters gaze.  
"What kind of contract?" she asked a sinking feeling in her stomach; she had an inkling as to what kind of contract they were talking about but hoped to god they were joking.  
"I'm sure you've heard all the talk amongst the other ninja Miki; the clan elders are getting desperate…" her mother ventured.

Mikoto certainly had heard all the talk; the Sharingan was declining amongst the Uchihas. Only around five others not including herself had the bloodline amongst her own age group, and the majority were unable to activate past the first level being too distant from the main family. It had taken years to get her third tomoe, and she was a direct cousin of Fugaku. Both their fathers were from the main line, and even Fugaku (who had a Sharingan-mother as well) had taken some time to activate his own Sharingan.

"The clan elders are under the belief the genes are… being spread out too thin, shall we say?" her father continued, still refusing to meet his daughters gaze.

Meaning that too much non-Uchiha blood was corrupting the bloodline.

"The council is equally concerned, and are insisting something be done about the matter Miki," her mother told her with a deeply apologetic tone, certain her daughter had caught on to what the elders had ordered.

The council?! As in the daimyo's council? That was… the Hokage, his aides, and the Jonin and Anbu commanders and the high members of the daimyo's court! They could not be that worried could they? Koharu's face popped into her mind for a brief moment, but she shook it away; she did not want to jump to conclusions; the woman may not have liked her family name, but she had always been polite. Mikoto could not imagine her egging the decision…

"I'm not doing it! Tell them to find someone else! I already have a boyfriend!" she replied with more vehement gusto than she was usually associated with, usually being applied to Tsume or Kushina.

Her brother seemed to catch the discord between his relatives with her increase in tone, and looked between his family members apprehensively, beginning to fuss in his baby rocker. Uruchi gave her husband a significant look and the man picked his son like a daisy, walking out of the room with him, making a show of raspberry blowing and tickling to capture the boy's attention away form the discord in the kitchen.

"Mikoto, you're the only girl in the clan with the Sharingan who isn't pushing forty or seventy," her mother explained sympathetically.  
"So? I'm sixteen; I don't want to get married! And more to the point, I'm not marrying some old guy!" Mikoto protested.

"You won't be marrying some old guy honey"

Mikoto's blood ran cold.

"Then who?"  
"Fugaku" her mother informed her.

Mikoto's plate crashed to the floor as she left the table and stormed from the room. Her feet thudded on the steps before the door to her bedroom slammed with a loud crash. Uruchi rested her elbows on the table, pressing her lips to her intertwined fingers; she had known the news would be taken badly, but not once had her daughter been so enraged.

- - - - - - -

"Miki! Miki! You've got to do something!" Tsume called, waving her arms frantically, her faithful recently mono-eared companion at her heels. Mikoto paused outside the entrance to the Hokage offices to allow her friend to catch up.

"What? Is something wrong?" she asked, placing a grimace across her face.  
"Inochi broke up with her! She's a mess and I don't know what to do!" the Inuzuka girl complained, shaking her friends shoulders in desperation.

"We all knew this was coming but she looks like one of those weird grass ninja shot her full of poison or something! I don't know what to do with her! We have a mission in two days, but I can't get her out of her bedroom!" Tsume wailed.

The Inuzuka had taken in Kushina when the remnants of the whirlpool ninjas fled to Konoha, and the two had found their personalities an instant match; Kushina was the sister Tsume had never had, so her worry was not unprecedented. Mikoto however, was reminded of the job she had to do before leaving on her mission.

"Oi, Miki! Are you listening?! Miki!"  
"Sorry Tsume, but I think you've got to handle this one on your own…" she replied in a daze, walking into the office and closing the door behind her.

"Eh?"

Tsume's confusion would be cleared later that day when her Hyuuga team-mate told her of the juiciest piece of gossip in weeks; the break up of Minato and Mikoto, and Mikoto's clan orchestrated marriage.

- - - - - - -

"Oi, will you get yourself pulled together?" Fugaku growled at his intoxicate team-mate.  
"Fugaku! Yelling at him is not going to help! I hardly think he's going to listen to you of all people right now!" Kushina growled, elbowing him in the stomach harshly.

Minato ignored him, much preferring to take a long glug from a lurid purple concoction. Fugaku had been searching for his team-mate for nearing two days now - his mother of all people had turned up on his doorstep asking if he was with them. Fugaku had though this a little stupid given his role in the cause of his cousin's break up with the blonde, but he knew better than to tell Koharu Namikaze (formerly Utatane) that she was an idiot.

Instead, he had offered to search for his team-mate, much to her relief, and had immediately gone to call on his female team-mate to help; if anyone knew what break-ups could do to people it would be her. Her guard-dog had been something of an issue to get past, but she had ordered Tsume to sit and stay herself once she learned Minato was missing (Tsume had avoided mentioning their break up for fear of reminding the red-head of her own).

He was thankful she had now, for the glare Minato had shot him was enough to ruffle even his stiff tail feathers.  
"Whaad, _yoo_ wan'?" he slurred, waving the owner of the bar over for a refill.

Fugaku stumped; he was never good with these heart-to-heart things, and the level required was rather large at the moment. He turned a glance towards Kushina, who was already making her way over to the barstool next to her team-mate.

"Oi barman! Gimmie a bottle of sake! I've got wallowing to do!" she voiced, plopping down in the seat next to Minato.  
"so Blondie, how ya' holding up?"  
"Fucgink shisht Kushnaaa" he drawled, making a grab for his glass of purple liquid.  
"Really? Me too! Next drink's on me!"

Fugaku watched in horror as Kushina proceeded to swallow drink after drink and shot after shot before Minato swayed in his seat, and fell backwards onto the floor.

"Thank god for that; I thought he was never going to conk out!" Kushina cried with relief, hoisting one of the blonde's arms around her neck.  
"You did that on purpose?! Think about his liver! What if he gets alcohol poisoning from all this?! You know he doesn't drink much!" Fugaku berated, mimicking Kushina and hoisting Minato's other arm around his neck.

"I had to; he needed to wallow in self pity for a while! You wouldn't know about relationships if one came up from behind and bit you in the butt dancing naked and wearing a rice farmer's hat, _virgin!_" Kushina snapped in reply.

"W-What does that have to do with anything?!" he spluttered, manoeuvring in time with Kushina out of the door to the bar; they were lucky in that it was just down the road from Minato's house (he was heavy).

"I mean, he needs to processes it on his terms before we can kick him back to normal! Why'd you think Tsume was freaking out yesterday? I was doing the same thing. Except I had ramen instead of alcohol. You've never had a girlfriend, so you wouldn't get it!" she replied in a snappish tone - probably the alcohol she had consumed before Minato collapsed talking there.

They had reached the beginning of Minato's street, and headed towards the house itself with a quickened pace.

"How are you still standing anyway?" he asked, grunting as he raised a fist to knock at the door.  
"I used that substance purification technique you taugh-"  
"Good lord, what on earth was he doing?!" Minato's father cried in horror, opening the door before Fugaku had the chance to knock.

He took the arm Kushina supported from her and helped Fugaku drag him inside the house as Kushina explained where they had found him. She was quick to notice the alarmed look on his mothers face as he was carried up the stairs by the two, and frowned at her. She would bet anything this was her fault somehow; she liked Mikoto, but she detested Mikoto Uchiha with a passion.

"Why on earth would he drink himself into a stupor? I though he was more intelligent than that!" the old man grumbled, coming back down the stairs with Fugaku.

Kushina and Fugaku stared at him in surprise.  
"You didn't know?" Fugaku asked.

The news was all over the village, and the man was on the council, so there was no way he could not have known about the engagement within the clan.

"No! We haven't seen him since yesterday afternoon!" he growled, slumping down on his sofa and running a weary hand over his forehead.  
"Mikoto broke up with him; the clan elders arranged a marriage between us! I thought the council backed it but…"

His eyes widened.

"That was for Mikoto? I didn't think she was an option…"  
"There aren't any other girls who have the Sharingan so she was the only option" Fugaku clarified, accompanied by a frowning nod from Kushina.

"We never dealt with any names… I didn't think for a moment… Oh well, I guess that explains it..." the man grumbled to himself.

Neither Chunin missed the suspicious gaze he gave his wife, who was conveniently preoccupied with arranging the cushions on another piece of upholstery.

* * *

"I can't believe it! Jonin! Jonin! This is awesome! We have to have a party! Choza, can we do it at your place? Your food is always awesome! Pleeaaase Choza!" Inochi begged his team-mate as the troupe of recently appointed Jonin left the Hokage's office.

The whole year group had been promoted to either Jonin, or Anbu if they so wished, for the decimation of a group of Iwagakure ninjas that had been attacking one of fire country's villages, though much of the work had gone to Minato (his flying thunder god technique was awe inspiring up close).

Inochi, Fugaku, Hizashi, and Tsume had been raised to first rank field medics outside the common ranking system for their own efforts, whilst Shibi, Hiashi, Shikaku, and Sakumo had all silently opted to join the ANBU. Mikoto was finally to join the training for the sealing teams, and Minato and Kushina had decided to remain on the frontlines against Iwagakure and Kirigakure.

"You just want to talk to my sister don't you?" the Akimichi replied exasperatedly.  
"Well, yes, but the food is awesome too, right Minato? Minato, oh cripes not again…"

Fugaku turned to look in the direction Inochi had been directing his voice and felt a sinking feeling in his stomach; apparently, his wife had chosen to break the news to Minato first if the sombre expression on both their faces was anything to go by. Minato looked more heartbroken than he had for months; it was quickly covered though.

He picked up Mikoto in a hug and whirled her around laughing his head off before letting her down; she looked somewhat green, and descending on him with a teasing grin on his face.

"Why the hell didn't you say something earlier Fugaku?!"  
"I figured I'd let Mikoto handle it…" he replied absently, his mint thinking something completely different to the words he voiced (_'because I didn't want you to look like that dumb ass'_).

"Why didn't he say what?" Shikaku asked, attention dragged away from his own girlfriend

Before Minato could answer, there was an outcry of loud squealing from the girls some distance behind them, Inochi's sister Yoshino (Shikaku's girlfriend) making enough noise to momentarily match that of Kushina and Tsume. Fugaku did not miss the flinch in his friends eyes at their exuberance.

* * *

"Mind if I join you?"

Minato looked up to find his red-haired team-mate standing beside him with a lurid green drink in hand. She wobbled slightly, a sign that the alcoholic contents of the glass were affecting her. Minato nodded, taking a drink from his own glass. As much as he wanted to be happy for his team-mate and old (he couldn't quite bring himself to say Ex) girlfriend, he was having a miserable time.

"This completely sucks, doesn't it?" Kushina asked, leaning onto his shoulder lazily after seating herself on the sofa next to him.  
"What does?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her words.  
"That!" she waved her hand towards Inochi, who was hovering near a table on the other side of the room; seated at the table was Choza's sister, Choko.

Ah. That explained the drink then. After her own split, she had mentioned Choza's sister in a less friendly light than before, and the relation between the two friends had been noticeably strained. Apparently, his closeness with the female Akimichi was the source of a great majority of their arguments previously.

"I'm happy for them and all, I really am! But it makes my teeth ache watching them!" she grumbled.  
"Preaching to the choir Kushina; you think I'm happy? I can't believe she's already pregnant… I though they wait a while longer for _that_… her careers gone up the spout now!" he muttered equally lowly.

"The elders don't care about her career, what they want is more Sharingan users. She complained about it a lot; said once she'd made Jonin they wanted her to quit being a ninja" Kushina revealed, equally displeased.

"Gits"

Kushina responded by clinking her glass to his and taking a long gulp. Un-noticed in their increasing stupor were the glances from their team-mate and his wife.

* * *

Minato groaned, and pulled the covers back over his head when morning sunlight burned his eyes; a raging hangover hung over his head mockingly, and the usually early bird retreated form the light as much as possible. As he buried under the covers he became aware of someone else sprawled on the other side.

Groaning from the need to embrace burning sunlight and the implications of someone else occupying his bed, he raised his head above the covers to catch a glimpse of his sudden bed mate. Fore one brief moment, he'd hoped he'd woken up form a bad dream, and it was Mikoto once again, but any lingering desires were dashed by the bright red birds nest.

He fell out of the bed right there and then.

"…the hell?" Kushina groaned, woken from her slumber by the loud crash of his fall.

She seemed to notice her unfamiliar surroundings, and drew the covers around her as she sat up, searching the room for something that looked familiar. She finally settled her gaze on the groaning blonde on the floor and slapped a hand to her face.

"Oh, this is just typical isn't it?" she asked rhetorically.  
"Be glad I moved out; my mother would have had a field day," Minato groaned, still couched on the floor cradling his injured and hung-over head.

Kushina couldn't find any argument with his words, but things were going to be awkward during their weekly team meetings for a while. She couldn't imagine lunch with the guy she had drunkenly slept with and the guy who'd gotten his ex-girlfriend pregnant would be all that fun.

Really, it was bad enough watching Fugaku and Minato dodging each other without dodging Mikoto herself, without avoiding Minato and avoiding Fugaku's questions of why she was avoiding the blonde.

Minato pulled his boxers from the pile they had been dropped on the previous night, and did his best to pull them on without falling over. Apparently, he was still under the effects of all the drink he had consumed the night before, because he was rather unsteady on his feet. He considered how awkward thing would be for a moment before coming to a decision.

"Kushina, do you want give this a try, like, seeing each other?" he asked.

Kushina raised an eyebrow.  
"I dunno, why?"

He scratched the back of his head.

"I don't know about you, but I don't want to keep trailing after Mikoto, its not right, and I need to get over it - it's been four years since we split, I love her, but I want to move on with my life" he replied, finally getting the words out.

Kushina considered it; what he said made sense, and reflected her own situation with Inochi somewhat. Perhaps it was time to move on with her life, and Minato would not be that bad a person to move on with. He was a good ninja, had some decent looks, and now that they had matured she had a greater appreciation for his rational demeanour against her own relatively volatile one.

Being on the same Genin squad meant they were often put together on missions as Chunin, and she knew him well enough to have a relationship that classified as functional (a huge contrast to her dysfunctional one with Inochi). Tsume would be happy, had her parents been alive they would be happy, and there was no question that Koharu would be happy.

"I guess we can give it a try," she conceded with a grin.

- - - - - - -

They had been dating for three months when Kushina found herself vomiting into the kitchen sink of the apartment in the Inuzuka compound she shared with her adoptive sister. Tsume instantly shrieked in alarm upon walking into the kitchen, and insisted on giving her a medical check despite the redhead's protests.

After a brief observatory technique, she frowned. Nothing was specifically wrong with her, but she couldn't be throwing up for no reason. There was no chance of her having consumed bad food either, for Kushina was horribly paranoid of food poisoning and threw out anything that smelled remotely iffy (which it usually was not, much to Tsume's irritation).

"Tsume there's nothing wrong with me; there's just a possible almost certainty that I could be slightly pregnant" Kushina said placatingly.

Tsume nodded, glad for a sensible explanation.

"_Oh!_ That makes much more sen- Wait, You're_ WHAT?!_"

* * *

"Hey, Kushina, mind if I steal your husband for a few moments? You can borrow mine!" Mikoto smiled at the newly married pair.

Kushina agreed, winking at Minato before dashing off to dance with her team-mate. Mikoto smiled at her ex-boyfriend as he took hold of her hand and resumed the dance he had been pursuing with Kushina moment before.

"Kushina told me the news; congratulations!" she beamed, and Minato could not help but smile at her delighted face.  
"Thanks, it was a surprise but… you look like you're doing well too," he replied, gesturing to her abdomen, now showing her five-month state.

He would never have expected it to be with Kushina Uzumaki (now Namikaze) but he was genuinely happy about impending fatherhood. Kushina for her part, was more nervous but equally happy with the chance to start her family again after the destruction of her own village. It was not what either of them had expected, but they were… at ease with the situation they had found themselves in.

His mother had been ecstatic behind her furious face of family honour and public image, and had pushed the marriage through as quickly as possible, but he had never really cared about his mother's opinion on his love life too much (what a mistake that had been).

"Thanks. I'm… I'm glad you've got someone Minato. I was really worried about you, you know. I though you were going to turn into that guy opposite you who chases little kids of his lawn with blunted shuriken!" she joked.

The past four years had put a distance where closeness had once been, and he didn't notice the lie hidden behind the soft grin. He was equally adept at the art, and she similarly missed the stab her words caused.

"Aw come on! I wasn't that bad!" he joked.

- - - - - - -

On the other side of the dance floor, their spouses sighed with frustration.

"Damn it! I thought that would work!" Kushina growled.  
"I didn't expect much but honestly… those two are too stupid for their own good sometimes!" Fugaku agreed.

* * *

_**I decided to post the back story as a separate fic; I don't want It Cloggering up ADG. Part II will also be posted as a separate story. This particularly story goes fairly quickly, since I don't want to spend too long on it. It'll be about four chapters altogether.**_

_**Kushina's food poisoning aversion is my own; I can eat raw cake mix, raw super noodles, but if something even looks the slightest hint green, or smells slightly different, I throw it out. I don't understand it since there are raw eggs in cake mix and that just screams salmonella. **_

_**It drives my mother up the wall since I can throw out milk that's was bough two days previously (It doesn't matter if the date says it's still eddible; if it looks or smells funny, it goes in the bin, down the toilet or on the fire).**_

_**Oh Yeah, i have a question for all you lovley reviewers.**_

_**I've said before that I have a few obbsesive disorders with ItaNaru and such, yes? Ok, good. **_

_**I'm looking for this one fic I read yonks ago; it was a one-shot and team seven was on a mission somewhere when Itachi paid Naruto a visit. lemon ensues, but Sasuke overhears the whole thing cause he's room-sharing with Naruto. Basic jist. **__**It was the first one I ever read and I've been hooked since, but I can't find it!**_

_**I've looked through the archives about three times now and damn it, i cant find it! So if anyone can give me a link or directions (an author name would be particularly appreciated), then I may just love you forever. **__**Screw cookies, I'll write whatever twisted one-shot comes into your head, I'll even try a yaoi lemon. I just really want to find that fic! It was awesome!**_

_**Hope you liked this first chapter!  
Nat  
xxx**_


	2. Act II: Soul Searching

**DIVERSE INHERITANCE**

**INTERMISSION: ACT II  
~ SOUL SEARCHING ~**

* * *

Seven and a half months after the wedding - or thereabouts - found Minato, his old teacher, Inochi and Mikoto for the arrival of his impatient son. Mikoto, who was starting to appear overdue, had been exempt from the cluster of medics that had ploughed into the room Kushina's yells were emanating from.

She screamed curses and profanities the entire time (15 hours altogether) much to the irritation of Tsume, Inochi, Fugaku, and Tsunade Senju herself. At approximately half past four in the morning Deidara Namikaze, upon meeting the world for the first time, was crying as loudly as his mother had been swearing.

One month and four days late, Mikoto's son finally decided to make his appearance. Despite his status as a medical ninja, Fugaku had been deemed too stressed to be of any use to anyone, and had been ejected from the room whilst his wife was left in the more capable hands of the same doctors that had been supervising Kushina a few weeks before.

Itachi Uchiha was brought into the world eyes blazing red with the Sharingan. He was surprisingly quiet for a newborn. Mikoto blamed this on his un-talkative father. The first time the two were left in the same room, Deidara had the usually quiet boy in tears through reason unknown to their mystified parents.

* * *

"The third has announced his retirement hasn't he? Are any of the candidates been appointed yet?" Kushina asked as Minato focused on lightly burning a piece of cheese covered bread under the grill.

"I think Orochimaru was mentioned…"  
"I don't like him" Kushina stated flatly, shuddering involuntarily as Minato continued.

"…My parents are being cagey, but that's not what's bothering you is it?" he asked, giving the side of the grill a whack with his hand, trying to encourage it into life.

Kushina sighed.

"I'm not comfortable with Deidara graduating at this age, especially with the war going the way it is. It isn't right!" she shook her head disapprovingly, taking a long sip of coffee from her mug.

"I can't say I like the idea either, but I don't think the Hokage would let anyone graduate at this age unless he was certain of their abilities and in dire need of ninja, which he probably is. You're right though; kids should be kids" he agreed, whacking the side of the grill again.

"Where is that shrimp anyway? It's been unusually quiet this morning" he added, seemingly noticing the unusually quiet for the first time.

As if on cue, their was a loud yell from the upper floor before a thud of small feet and a blonde boy of four years old dashed into the room, struggling to tie on his forehead protector in his haste, and a small bag of his mothers exploding clay slung over one shoulder.

"I can't tie it! I'm going to be late for graduation, yeah!" he complained, directing a plea for help towards his mother.  
"Come here shrimp; I'll tie it on for you, are your sandals on right?"

Deidara Namikaze had his mother's pale iron-blue eyes, love of explosions, excitable nature, and preference for long hair (though his own was much shorter than hers). The only parts that seemed vaguely like his father were his blonde hair and apparent prodigal skills as a ninja. He didn't have much patience for sealing, but he soaked up his fathers wind techniques like a sponge. Minato couldn't wait to teach him the flying thunder god technique.

Since the only sealing involved was the creation of the kunai themselves, and the rest was purely the execution of chakra, he had high hopes his son would be equally proficient with it; Kushina had insisted he wait a few more years before that however, and he had rightly agreed. A teleportation technique in the hands of a four year old would be chaotic.

"Yes, and I'm not a shrimp, yeah! Shrimp live in the sea!" the boy protested at the nickname, handing the blue-cloth and metal plate to his father. The moment it was secured to his forehead, he dragged his father towards the door.

"Come on! I'm gonna be late, yeah!" he yelled loudly, pausing only long enough for his Father to pull on his Jonin vest.  
"Good luck!" Kushina called to the two of them before the two were gone form the small flat.

* * *

"Minato! You made it!" Mikoto greeted cheerfully as he entered the staff room of the academy.

Waiting with her was Shibi Aburame, a recent retiree from the ANBU, and Choza Akimichi. Today was the day they would meet their first Genin squads for the first time, and he was looking forward to the event. He took a seat between Mikoto and Shibi and slumped back on the cushioning of the sofa.

"Bad morning?" Shibi asked quietly as ever.  
"Deidara was particularly enthusiastic about graduating, and was convinced we were going to be late if we didn't run" he replied.

"At least he shows some enthusiasm!" Mikoto grumbled.

"Itachi is so calm all the time it worries me! I don't like him graduating this early!"  
"You sound exactly like Kushina" Minato laughed.

Mikoto whacked his shoulder, pouting.

"Who have you been assigned to? I have…" she glanced at the form she had picked up from the Hokage's office, re-acquainting herself with the names of her new students.

"Hayate Gekko, Raido Namiashi, and Kurenai Yuuhi" she confirmed.

Minato dimly recognised the Hayate name as that of a sword-using family, and the Yuuhi girl as one of those illusion specialists with the strange red eyes. He glanced down at his own form and blinked in surprise:

"Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Uzuki" he replied in a stunned voice.  
"Eh? Obito?!" Mikoto asked, surprised at the mention of her younger brother, now eight years old.

"Never mind Obito Mikoto, I got Sakumo's kid!" Minato objected; Mikoto's old team mate had committed suicide perhaps two or three years ago now, and his wife had followed about a year later.

Minato hoped this Rin girl would be relatively normal - he had met Obito and the boy was as enthusiastic as his own son. As for Kakashi, he had a very worrying creed of obeying the rules to the letter. He could see the explosions now.

"What about you guys?" he asked Shibi and Choza.  
"I have… Might Gai? I don't know him, Anko Mitarashi and Iruka Umino" Shibi replied, frowning over the first name.

"That's the green kid Deidara talks about I think," Minato frowned.  
"…You mean the boy who often proclaims youth?" Shibi asked, and Minato knew from the long hours spent working with him that he was somewhat horrified.

Choza laughed.

"I pity you Shibi! I got normal kids! Genma Shiranui, Asuma Sarutobi, and Yugao Uzuki" he informed the bug user with a gloating expression.  
"Asuma? That the Hokage's kid?" Minato asked.  
"Yeah… Either of you know who's taking Itachi and Deidara?" Mikoto asked, going over the list of graduating students.

"That would be me" a voice said from the doorway.

Minato didn't know if the fact his son's new teacher was head of the interrogation department was a good thing or a bad thing.

* * *

"Hey Mikoto! Come join us!" Minato crowed from the Ramen stand, waving over the black haired woman and her troupe of duckies (as he referred to his own Genin to their irritation).

She walked over with her small group and took the seat next to him with a cheesy grin. The sickly-looking boy immediately began discussing something with Kakashi, and the other four recent graduates chattered amiably about their relevant tests.

"How did they do?" Mikoto asked, going over the menu handed to her by Teuchi.  
"Not too bad; Kakashi ended up tied to the tree stump, but he got it eventually" Minato grinned over his bowl of noodles, ignoring the glare sent his way by his silver-haired student.

Mikoto laughed.

"At least they didn't catch you! Genma pulled the rug over my eyes with his little fainting spell! Raido made a show of helping me and I didn't realise it was all an illusion till Kurenai had the bells! Really, I don't know how those Yuuhi people trick the senses so easily in the middle of a fight! I'm hopeless at illusions!" she moaned, though her tone indicated she was proud of her team for doing so well.

"That you are Mikoto; you never had much patience for them though. I never liked them either; damn fiddly bugge-"  
"Miki" she corrected.

He stopped mid sentence and glanced her in confusion.

"Everyone except you calls me Miki; no one calls me Mikoto. And if I remember rightly, you came up with that stupid nickname! Call me Miki!" she seemingly joked, pulling on a fake pout.

He stretched another grin across his face.

"I'll try to remember that" he promised, before turning back to his noodles with a sombre expression on his face.

"Oh, did you hear? Danzou got put on the candidate list!" she said, moving the conversation from dangerous areas, to which Minato heartily encouraged with his cry of disbelief.

Teuchi gave his two customers a wearied shake of his head.

* * *

Itachi's fifth birthday was a rather vivid affair; Deidara had decided to look upon Ibiki as if he were some sort of a god, and made it his mission in life to drag a reaction out of his team-mate, all the while trying to keep their female team-mate Ayame from throwing a spanner in his attempts (Ibiki and Mikoto encouraged the behavior with brawling laughter to Kushina's horror).

Kakashi - now a Chunin - gave Deidara a look of complete distaste as he dragged 'big bro' Obito and his team-mates into some sort of game involving hiding, kunai, and the bowl of trifle that took pride of place on the buffet table.

He was later dragged into the game by Rin, Anko (both level-headed stalkers in his mind) and Gai, if only to act as a mediator in place of the supposed adults.

Amidst the antics of the three prodigal Genin, there were two other topics that had captured the attention of the adults; the recent defection of Orochimaru was hot topic between Minato and his teacher (along with many of the other male ninja present), whilst Mikoto was one again suffocated with a pleasant smile on her face as her friends poked and prodded her swollen stomach.

"When is the due date again?" Tsume asked.  
"Mid July; two months to go. I hope it's a girl this time… Itachi is adorable, but he's such a handful!"

"Miki, he doesn't cause any problems at all, how is he a handful?" Choza's wife asked in disbelief, shifting her three week old son Choji on her lap.  
"That's just it; he's too calm! Why do you think I encourage Deidar-"

"Mother! Mr Namikaze! Kakashi-Sempai hit Uncle Obito on the head and now he won't wake up!" Itachi called, running up to his mother, and gently tugging on her sleeve with severe calm.

"I think that proves her point" Yoshino concluded as Minato made his way over towards his rampant team with fury on his face.

"Damn it Kakashi, what did I tell you about team-work?!"  
"This isn't a mission so it doesn't appl- Ow! Ow! Ow! Leggo of my ear! This abuse! I'll sue yo- OW!" Kakashi reasoned.

Deidara dragged his team-mate behind his mothers chair upon sight of his fathers face.  
"Mum, dad's scaring me!" he whispered.

Itachi and Ayame said nothing, but the Ramen maker's daughter hid her face in the upholstery, and Itachi gripped the chair with white knuckles, making certain the piece of furniture was between him and the fuming blonde Jonin.

* * *

"We caught trails in rice country, but they were long dead. Shibi found traces over in wind country, and Hizashi's ANBU squad caught sight of him last week in Rock country! I'd love to know how he moves around so fast! Those trails couldn't have been more than days old!" Tsume raged, chewing on her sandwich aggressively.

"Tsume, you have to remember who you're talking about; Orochimaru knows all the weaknesses of Konoha's clans, and that you would be immediately sent out to track him. He'll have put plenty of measures in place to keep himself from being found" Kushina replied soothingly.

"Yeah… damn, I feel like I'm forgetting something…" she grumbled to herself, scratching her shaggy mane of spiky brunette hair

Mikoto shuffled back into the room, her hair somewhat rumpled, and began to clatter about in the kitchen.

"I love that kid to bits, but I wish he wasn't so fussy! Look at the mess of my hair!" she complained jokingly.

"What did he do?" Kushina asked intrigued; Deidara had never been much of a grabby baby - throwing, yelling, howling, jumping, twitching, and fidgeting had all made an appearance at some time but he had never been grabby.

Mikoto paused.  
"I honestly don't know; I think he was trying to eat it at one point though…" Mikoto frowned.

Sasuke never cried without severe provocation (though for some reason he always wailed whenever Obito and Kakashi were too close), but he was very curious for a four-week old. He constantly gabbled, and grabbed, and tried to eat things even though he wasn't yet teething.

Mikoto was simply dreading that stage - Itachi had suffered in silence, but Sasuke seemed to have more enthusiasm than his brother (her genes most likely). She didn't imagine he would be as easy to deal with for a moment.

"Yoshino told me Shikaku is taking on a team this year" Kushina told them, her stunned reaction clear in her voice.  
"…how the hell did the Hokage get that lazy ass to take on a team?" Tsume asked in disbelief.

"Bribery maybe? Who is it?" Mikoto suggested, turning her question to the news-bearer.  
"Kotetsu Hagane, Izumo Kamizuki, and Hana" Kushina rattled.

Tsume spluttered.

"Hana?! Oh god, I can't wait to see this! Her pups will drive him up the wall before Kotetsu and Izumo get a chance!" she barked in loud amusement.

"Well, at least he'll be a good teacher… if he can be bothered to do any teaching, that is" Mikoto agreed, opening up the fridge.

"Ah, that's it! Oi, Kushina, where that blonde of yours? I want him to look over a seal we found looking for Orochimaru… I swear even that man's ink smells like snakes" Tsume asked, remembering the matter all of a sudden

"Hokage called him up to the office for some official stuff- hey, Miki, where are you going?" Kushina leaned her head over the back of the sofa to watch her friend heading for the door.

"We're out of rice, I completely forgot! If Sasuke wakes up don't let Tsume get anywhere near him!"  
"Hey, I have kids too y'know! Two of them!"  
"I know, but you seem to rub him the wrong way for some reason! I'll be five minuets!" she replied, closing the door behind her.

Tsume was rather disgruntled.

"you know she's right, you scare your own kids; if you scared your own husband away, there's no way you aren't going to frighten anti-social junior II" Kushina laughed gleefully.

"Oh god, you're never going to let that go are you? And at least I can remember the kid's name!"  
"Down Tsume, Down!"

Tsume growled.

* * *

"You wanted to see me Hokage-sama?" Minato asked, entering the Hokage's office at the prompt from his assistant.

The old man was accompanied by his parents and Jiraiya (something of an old second cousin), and was ensconced in his chair with a wrinkled smile on his face. His parents looked… horribly delighted about something; that was never a good situation to be in.

His mentor had one of those 'I-know-something-you-don't-know!' grins on his own visage, and Minato had learned to be wary of those if he was the one it was directed at.

"Minato, I'm glad you got here so quickly. I have a proposition for you" the old man greeted as Minato took the usual spot in the centre of the room, facing the wrinkling Hokage's desk.

"Proposition? What kind?" he asked.

If he hadn't already been leading a team (admittedly all now Chunin, but his students would always be his team besides his own old team-mates), he would have guessed that the man wanted him to take on some Genin. The original request had followed a similar sequence of events, but the presence of the three other people in the room countered that idea.

"Simply put, I'd like to add your name to the list of candidates for the next Hokage that will be presented to the Daimyo at the next council meeting before the election." the man informed him in all seriousness.

Jiraiya's grin broadened at the confusion on the face of his protégé.

"Do what now?" Minato asked, blinking.  
"I think you more than meet the requirements Minato" the old man smiled.

Minato stared at him for a few moments in complete shock before his rolled back in his head and he fell to the floor with a loud thud. Jiraiya fell into gales of laughter.

"As amusing as this is, can someone please wake him up? I can't put his name on the list without his permission!" the Hokage asked, giving his old student a berating glance from the corner of his eye.

* * *

"Minato!" Mikoto called out to the blonde haired man, busy teaching his grey-haired student the basics on lightning manipulation.

He looked up to find the woman rushing towards them, and gave Kakashi a few more pointers on calling on the lightning element before going to meet the dark haired woman, now two-month old Sasuke in a carrying device on her front.

Itachi poked out from behind her legs nervously; ever since he's been placed on the candidate list, the boy had taken to looking at him with a mixture of awe and confusion; awe from the strength the candidacy implied, and confusion for the form of address.

Itachi had always referred to the man as Uncle Minato, but if his mother's friend (his best friend's father) was to become Hokage, then that form of address simply wouldn't do. He was at a loss as how to address Deidara's father with the possible rise in status.

Thus he had decided to avoid talking to the man if possible; it wasn't ideal, but it was the only solution he could think of that would totally avoid making an embarrassment of himself. Thankfully the blonde man didn't take it the wrong way

"Mikoto, what are you doing all the way out here? With Sasuke even? Hello to you too Itachi," he asked, tapping Itachi's forehead with two fingers - the boy gave him a glare from the corner of his eye.

"They're about to announce the final candidate announcements Minato! You need to be there for the start of the ceremony! You forgot about it didn't you?" Mikoto reminded him, giving him a reprimanding bump on the head with her fist.

"Mother!" Itachi gasped, aghast by the show of violence he was unused to seeing from his mother, never mind to whom it was being directed at.

Mikoto smiled at her son.  
"Think of it as vengeance for your forehead Itachi" she said placating.

Itachi frowned.  
"Rebenge is bad" he stated, mumbling into his mother's leg.

Mikoto sighed; Itachi was such a pacifist. She knew it had been the fighting that had done that, and in some ways it was a good thing, but taking the path of least resistance wasn't always the best way to do things. Besides, he couldn't even stand a joke between friends any more.

She was glad she had finally convinced the Hokage to take him away from the war zone; if he and his team-mates had to be fighting at their age, they could do it when the fight came to them as far as she was concerned.

Kushina had rightly put her foot down to the old man on the matter too; Mikoto had heard from Minato about the nightmares Deidara had been receiving lately, and there was no way they were healthy. Thankfully Deidara never seemed to remember them, and was just as loudly bubbly during the day as he always had been, but it didn't erase the slight jumpiness that had developed in the boy.

"I'm joking silly, now lets get to the ceremony; you too Minato! Get your team packed up and hurry on up before the ceremony starts!" Mikoto ordered in no-nonsense manner she had yet to use with Itachi; it seemed to be reserved for Minato.

"All right, just give us a moment to finish up!" he called after her, grinning sheepishly.

His young female student, a fellow refugee of his wife's, tugged on the end of his sleeve. He looked down at the eleven year old brunette in puzzlement.

"Is that your girlfriend Minato-Sensei?" she asked.  
"Don't be silly Rin! Minato-Sensei's married!" Obito corrected before the blonde man had time to answer her question.  
"But he's blushing! Look!" Rin pointed as Minato turned his face from his Genin.

"You heard the woman! We'd better get going!" he stated, busying himself with picking up the rubber batons he'd been training Kakashi's element with.

* * *

The after-party of the final nominations was fairly raucous; for many of the younger ninja it was their first time at such an excitable party; for the previous war veterans, they had seen such wild antics after the end of the second ninja war.

Fugaku and Kushina kept a beady eye on their spouses as they enjoyed the festivities, watching the blond and black-haired woman growing increasingly inebriated with alcohol consumption and cheer.

"I still don't see why he cant just divorce them and be done with it; your elders should be happy with your two Sharingan brats by now, so the marriage isn't necessary any more, right?!" Kushina growled, throwing back a shot of sake irritably.

"They won't do anything unless they take the first steps themselves, you know that. Mikoto sees things thought, and Minato is a stubborn idiot" Fugaku replied, glancing at the sake bottle Kushina was frequently pouring from with a contemplative look in his eye.

"But if we let them do that then they'll never get this crap sorted out!" Kushina pulled her hair in frustration.  
"My thoughts exactly; thankfully I've planned for that" Fugaku smirked smugly.

"Explain…" Kushina demanded in a threatening tone; a result of being removed from the loop.  
"It's fairly simple to create a mild drug that enhances the hormones" Fugaku smirked, finally taking a small sip of sake.  
"…No! You didn't!" Kushina gasped, horrified ecstasy on her face.

Fugaku pointed behind her and she whirled on the barstool to glance behind her, and her jaw dropped.

"…how much did you give them? I didn't think Mikoto even knew what a lap-dance was!" she asked in astonishment.  
"Remember those shots we got in the academy to keep down chakra poisoning?" Fugaku asked.

Kushina's paling skin tone told him she did indeed remember the immunisations.

"Twice what was in those" his smirked as Kushina paled another shade.  
"…you are a very twisted man, Fugaku. Very twisted"  
"Whatever works. You got those divorce papers handy?"  
"Yeah, in my set of drawers so Minato won't find them, why?"

"because there is no way in hell I will settle for anything less when I had to resort to drugs to make certain those idiots would work things out; show no mercy Kushina! No mercy!" he drawled before passing out on the counter top.

"That would be so much more dramatic if you weren't such a lightweight" Kushina commented.

* * *

Mikoto sat up in bed feeling confused, messy-haired and for some reason better than she had in years. Daring a glance to the arm draped over her waist and the body it was connected to, she decided to lie back down; this was another sickeningly twisted good dream, and the less she saw of it the better.

She pulled the covers over her head in an attempt pretend she was still asleep, before flipping them back down again. This was childish; they were both grown ups, and this would be dealt with maturely… then again, hiding under the covers could be an even better solution, since this was clearly a twisted form of vengeance from the gods for… something.

A grunted movement from the figure next to her pulled her back down to bed and she whined in irritation and supposedly suppressed happiness. Jesus even after eight years, he still grabbed her in his sleep. Not that she could talk; she wasn't exactly trying to escape.

Oh, she was freaking out, but escape? The thought hadn't entered her mind; if this was another of her torturous dreams, she would make the most of it while she could (as per usual).

More movement from Minato alerted her to his wakening and she patiently waited for him to fall out of the bed in shock (as he had done once several years ago, before her clan began meddling in things). Surprisingly she was disappointed.

"I missed you" he mumbled, burying his nose and face into the black messy mass that covered one of her shoulders.  
"Y-You're real?" Mikoto asked, not sure whether to be pleased or distressed by the previously ignored knowledge.  
"You said that the first time too" he snickered.

Mikoto whacked his side, sitting up in the bed.

"I don't know how to react to this, Minato" she started.  
"Take your time; I'll agree to whatever you decide.  
"Wha-"

"I still love you, Kushina often teases me about it, but the fact is I wont do anything that's going to cause you any discomfort" he stated, a weak grin on his face.

Mikoto bit her lip; if she was honest, this decision had been coming ever since she'd heard that he and Kushina had gotten together. She was no more than content with Fugaku, he was a good father yes, but she had never been comfortably comfortable with him.

Kushina and Minato weren't the type to suddenly start dating out of the blue; for one thing they still had moments when they irritated the other to no end, oh they cared for the other yes, but they were team-mates and they had known each other for years.

But then they were married and having a baby; the jealousy and knife wounds in her chest were nonsensical to her, but they were there. She knew enough to realise it had been at the insistence of his parents (and because Minato tended to have a noble streak), but she had still been jealous.

That could only mean one thing in her mind.

"I don't think you're the only one who feels that way… but that doesn't really make things any simpler" she mumbled, lowering her head to the mass of sheets covering her knees in frustration.

Minato put an arm around her shoulder, but it was a hollow gesture when the same thoughts plagued his own mind.

* * *

"You still like omelettes right?" Minato asked, pulling a frying pan from the cupboard.

Minato nodded, watching as he fought with the temperamental cooker, trying to coax the gas flame into life; he'd taken down armies of ninja, but it was amusing to watch him be defeated by a simple gas ring on an old cooker.

Seated at the table as she was, Mikoto was the first to notice the thick A4 envelope with both their names on. Slightly alarmed, she seized the brown package and tore it open to pull out the wad of papers.

The first piece of paper was a letter in familiar handwriting.

_Dear Idiots,_

_If you two_ don't_ sign these after all the trouble I went to in spiking your drinks last night (Minato, you of all people know how hard it is to bribe Inochi), then I swear to god I _will_ trap you both in my Mangekyo illusion and _force_ you to sign them._

_Kushina says something about blowing you to kingdom come as well. Honestly; we are sick to death of watching the pair of you dance around each other like a couple of martyrs. Even Deidara and Itachi have noticed for god's sakes!_

_Sign the forms, or _else_._

_Sincerely,  
Fugaku and Kushina_

_P.S.  
__Don't think I _won't_ hold that threat because I assure you I _will_; it's for your own good._

Mikoto took a glance at the remaining papers and almost splurted her glass of orange juice when she caught the print at the top of the page: '_Ninja Law Draft 17; Divorce'_

_

* * *

_

**_Yaaay. Chapter Two! _**

**_This story will officially have two more chapters before finishing. I'm working on the last one at the moment, I just need to run it through a decent spell check - my new laptop died a horrible clanking death (literally), and I've been forced to resort to OpenOffice on my old laptop - I hate the auto correct and the non-grammar checking on that thing!_**

**_Hope you liked it.  
Nat.  
xxx _**


	3. Act III: Such Twisted Games We Play

**DIVERSE INHERITANCE**

* * *

**SCENE III  
****~ SUCH TWISTED GAMES WE PLAY ~**

* * *

"Ten months? That a long time for a mission Kushina..." Mikoto frowned.

"Yeah, but the pay is great; I finish this mission, that new flat is in the bag, besides, Minato was bugging me about wanting to train Deidara up a bit. He'll have all the time in the world now!" Kushina reasoned, a mischievous grin crossing her face.

"I still don't think sending them on such a long mission is a good idea…" Mikoto frowned.

She didn't want to stay in the village whilst her new team of Chunins were on the front lines of the war with Kirigakure, but it simply wasn't possible. Besides the seal-mastery exam coming up, Minato spent too much time in the mission assignment office for his training.

He had an aversion to sending her anywhere near a war zone; she appreciated the gesture, but sometimes he really did worry too much.  
She'd just have to relax and trust Kushina to look after her team in her stead.

"Mikoto-Sensei! Hayate needs his medicine again!" Kurenai called, running up to the dark-haired woman, who stood on the edge of the training field with Kushina.  
"Again? Tell him to take a break for a few minuets; he knows better than to push himself!" Mikoto instructed, handing the red-eyed girl a bottle of unpleasant looking green liquid.

"So anyway, Inochi got a placement as a direct assistant to Ibiki; Choko says he was absolutely giddy when he got back home," Kushina continued as Kurenai dashed back to her team-mate with the bottle.

The redhead dug around in her Shuriken pouch and withdrew a rice ball in protective wrapping.

"Really? That's good news; Choko's pregnant too isn't she? He must be on cloud nine right now" Mikoto replied, catching a pungent whiff of the rice ball that was slowly being unwrapped.

"Yup, supposed to be twins- hey, you all right Miki? You look a bit green…" Kushina cut herself off, noting the paling colour of her friends face.

Mikoto wasn't quite sure; the smell of that rice ball was making her stomach churn, but she ignored it.

"I'm fine Kushina, you worry too much you know that?"  
"Hmm… Well, as long as you're sure…"

She gave her a sceptical glance before jumping to a different topic.  
"So? How are you and Minato doing?" she asked with a smug grin on her face.

Mikoto smiled.

"Things are perfect. Itachi isn't quite sure how to react - you know how he is - but Sasuke is perfectly happy with him; he behaves better for Minato than he does for me!" Mikoto pouted jokingly.

In spite of her surprise, she wasn't surprised Minato got along with Sasuke so well; he had always been good with kids, and had one of his own. Itachi was a bit more of a challenge for him though; the boy was far too fixated on Minato's position as appointed successor.

He was too formal, though she had noticed the odd slip of his tongue; maybe that was a sign he was loosening up a little bit.  
It would be a good change for him in her opinion.

"Well, I can assure you Deidara is quite taken with you; apparently all that help you gave him for his sealing exams left an impression. He calls you Aunt Miki! It's so odd hearing someone call you that…" Kushina grinned.

"I know; he was so jittery around me at first! I was a little worried for a while but…"  
"Nah, he's good. Speaking of kids, you two got any plans for your own?" Kushina asked curiously.  
"We haven't really talked about it, we've only been married a year so it hasn't really-"

"Mikoto-Sensei! You have to help! Raido fell off the top of the waterfall _again!" _came Kurenai's distressed call.

Mikoto rubbed her temples with one hand.

"How many times do I have to tell him to stay away from there?" she grumbled, hurrying across the training field with her distressed pupil.

* * *

It was two weeks after the displacement of her team that Mikoto found herself throwing up in the bathroom sink at an unknown but unholy hour of the morning. The action was further cementation of certain suspicions she'd had for a while, but had been put out of her mind by matters of more importance.

"Miki? You all right?" Minato asked, appearing at the bathroom door.

Face unseen though it was, she could tell her was worried; he had good reason to since she had never had much more than a cold in her life.

Mikoto considered her response; she could wait till morning to tell him, keep it to herself till she was hundred percent certain, or she could inform him of the possibility now; after some thought, she decided the last option would be best.

Minato worried over people far too much for his own good, so it would be best to ease his worry before it got to unmanageable levels.

"I think I'm pregnant" she told him in a rather blasé fashion, yawning and stretching at the late (early?) hour.  
"…Say what?"

"I'm not sure, but probably yes" she replied, shooing him away from the door and steering back along the hallway towards their bedroom.

Before she reached the door, she was in his arms and being whirled around in circles in the middle of the hallway.

* * *

Mikoto felt somewhat nervous, but her husband seemed somewhat energetic. He had been on a high note all week, but she couldn't bring herself to show the same enthusiasm. Mostly because Deidara kept gawking at her belly as if she were about to lay a large egg of some kind.

She busied herself with persuading Sasuke to eat some of his mashed up carrots; she and Fugaku had shared custody now. The boys lived with her, but Itachi spent a great deal of time with him (as he was right that very moment). Sasuke was too young to train at the moment, but it would be the same for him.

Deidara simply lived with them as he normally would with his mother on a missions; he normally walked in and out of his two homes as he pleased, and stayed where it was convenient so nothing much had changed for him. She hoped the same would be said of her two boys eventually. She also hoped all three of them would get along with the newest member of her increased family.

It had been nothing but difficulties over the past few years, and she finally had the family she had wanted in the first place; Sasuke and Itachi would not be traded for the world of course, She loved them to bits and Fugaku was family too, but it had been Minato she wanted to start her family with when she was eighteen, not Fugaku.

Eighteen might be seen as a little young to be having such thoughts by the civilian population, but by ninja standards, she had been right in doing so; half her graduation class hadn't lived past twenty five. The life span of the average ninja was forty years, fifty at a push, so families needed to be started early on.

It had taken some time, but she finally had the family she wanted; she didn't want to loose that now that she finally had it.  
Minato told her not to worry so much.

"I don't get it… Why is Auntie Miki gonna get fat? How does being fat make a baby?" he asked around a mouthful of toast.

Minato's enthusiasm wilted slightly; Deidara was a registered ninja yes, but was yet to reach six years old (not that it was far off). Minato didn't exactly want to teach him the facts of life just yet, and Mikoto had agreed certain that Kushina would say the same - she was yet to be informed of the news, and Mikoto was certain she would be displeased to hear of it from her almost-six year old.

Their explanation had simply been that she would get a little big for a while, and then there would be a baby in the house, that he would be a big brother.

Maybe they needed to expand a little more…

* * *

Deidara poked his noodles with unusual dejection that was not missed by his former team-mate. Ayame had been forced out of the ninja profession after their only failed mission; she had received lots of injuries, and they had mostly healed thanks to That blonde lady who always beat up his dad's Sensei, but her chakra network was beyond repair, and she had a gummy leg thanks to her injuries.

She didn't seem to mind though, she was equally happy helping her father in the ramen shop.  
"What's wrong with him?" Ayame asked Itachi in a hushed whisper, giving the blonde boy a worried look as she set down the bole of noodles in front of him.

"Mr. Namika- Err, Minato…" Itachi stumbled over the words.

His new step-father had been insistent that he refer to him by his first name, that he drop all the _'silly formalities'_, but Itachi found that a harder task than it sounded.

He had been taught to show his superiors respect, and he had been stuck with the idea that his now second-father would one day be the leader of the entire military system of fire country; his employer, his boss, his ultimate superior of any form.

Adjusting was confusing.

"…is late back from a mission" Itachi continued, quietly turning towards his own bowl of noodles.

Ayame nodded in understanding; for their future Hokage to be late back from a mission was almost unheard of, and the very rare instances that he was usually meant there had been some kind of trouble. It made sense for her team-mates to be worried; Itachi had been too quit recently even for him, and he wasn't stumbling over how to refer to his new step-dad.

"We should go wait at the gate for him then" she stated in a no-nonsense tone of voice.

Before either boy had time to protest, she had informed her father she was leaving and dragged them out of the small restaurant-stand.

It was Shikaku Nara who was on duty at the gatehouse, with his own three Genin, and he was more than happy to let them wait in the shelter if it kept his Genin from being noisy. It was a long wait; the sky darkened and it was almost morning when Minato stumbled through the gate with Kakashi and Rin on his back.

Obito's absence was horrifying. To Itachi, the boy was his uncle. Admittedly, not a very mature one, not being much older than himself, but Obito had enjoyed the role immensely. He was direct family. To Deidara, he had been indirect family for a year and a close friend beforehand.

Neither spoke, instead each taking an arm of Kakashi's and sprinting towards the hospital As Shikaku took hold of Rin.

* * *

"All right, who wants to have a look at their brother?"

Mikoto asked as she and Minato emerged from Tsunade's examination room. Itachi and Deidara dashed forward from the seats beside Fugaku, who was suffering from Sasuke's current obsession with hair-pulling, and eagerly looked at the photos that Minato bent down to explain and show them.

It had been their first sonogram after the initial news had been revealed and while both had secretly been hoping for a girl, already having boys of their own, Mikoto was certain her third child would be a boy. The activity her ribs were being subjected to was at a strength that matched that of Itachi and Sasuke before their own birth.

Even if Tsunade couldn't give an accurate guess of the baby's gender she was certain of it, and the good news that their son was healthy took a load from Minato's mind too; the recently appointed Hokage was not worried about ninja life itself to the same extent she was, but rather a certain group of ninjas. The ninjas of Iwagakure to be exact.

One of the workers in the Hokage building had been found to be a spy from Iwagakure, and had fought her way tooth and nail from the interrogation department not a few months ago. Minato was paranoid that they would attack at any minuet; he had every right to do so, given his standing with Iwagakure ninjas, but sometimes he went a little too far.

That being said, his decision to keep her pregnancy on the down-low was probably for the best. So far, only Tsunade, Kushina, Tsume, Fugaku, Inochi, Deidara and Itachi had been made aware of the upcoming addition to the family; besides those few, no one was aware of the news.

Things were kept quiet thanks to Kushina; the woman had a fantastic skill in forgery - a necessary skill for an ANBU of her level - and so she sent routine letters to Fugaku and Minato. Kushina knew her well enough to make it seem believable; as far as anyone was aware, she was on the front lines fighting against Kirigakure with a team of fresh Chunin.

"He doesn't look like a baby, he looks like a jellyfish, yeah" Deidara intoned, giving the pictures a sceptical look.

Itachi said nothing but Mikoto knew her boys; that shifty look in his eyes told her he completely agreed with his friend, but didn't really want to say something so blunt. Or offend the new Hokage by calling his soon-to-be son a jelly fish.

"Really? I though he looked more like one of those sea slugs…" Minato grinned, and Mikoto couldn't help but laugh at the perplexity on Itachi's face.  
"Sasuke stop that! Mikoto, help!" Fugaku called from his seat, almost whining, as he attempted to remove his hair from his youngest son's mouth.

Kushina barked with laughter, and Mikoto had to join her as she rescued her ex-husband from his now one year old son.

* * *

Minato snickered at the outraged perplexity on his old teachers face; Jiraiya had just returned from a three-year long tracking down various rouge ninja, including but not limited to his former team-mate, and was rather confused.

"Kid, catch me up here, I thought you and Kushina got married after you knocked her up?" he asked gawking at Mikoto's distended waistline from the doorway.

Itachi and Deidara chose that moment to barrel through the hallway, re-enacting the famous fight between the village co-founders. Or trying to, there was some dispute other who took the role of Madara Uchiha.

"Why do_ I_ have to be Madara?" Itachi complained as he ran past the two adults, Deidara chomping at his heels.  
"Because you are an _Uchiha_, yeah! He's _your_ ancestor moron!" the blonde boy informed him loudly.

Itachi rolled his eyes; he knew the man was his ancestor, the hint was in the name, but that didn't mean he would be satisfied with re-enacting Madara's role in the fight.

"I'm not a moron."  
"Silence! You're Madara, end of story yeah!"  
"I'm not Madara; _you're_ the one who always looses, so _you're_ Madara!"

The conversation faded as the two boys took their squabble to the garden. Jiraiya gave Deidara a look of recognition, and a similar one to Itachi, before confusion crossed his face once again. Mikoto didn't bother to restrain her own small chuckle as her husband sniggered at his teachers face.

"Someone tell me what's going on!" Jiraiya complained loudly over the laughter.

* * *

Jiraiya gave his old student a contemplative look.

"Kid, you are too stubborn for your own good sometimes; I can't believe Fugaku _drugged _you, but my congratulations all the same…" Jiraiya grumbled jokingly, shaking his head before taking a small grateful sip of the sake Mikoto set on the table.

"So I've heard" Minato grumbled, turning red at the mention of Fugaku and Kushina's meddling (welcome though it was).

"Boy or girl?" Jiraiya asked Mikoto as she took her own seat at the table, keeping a beady eye on Deidara and Itachi; the blonde had a look in his eye that told her he was eyeing the biscuit barrel, and had dragged Itachi along with him.

"Boy, Tsunade isn't getting a good view with the sonogram thing, but the way this kid kicks… I think he's broken some of my ribs" she glared at Minato, as if the matter were entirely his fault.

A crash from the kitchen and two horrified yelps distracted the blonde and he headed into the kitchen to rectify whatever damage the two had caused.

"Did you read the new book?" Jiraiya asked Mikoto who was angling her head to try and catch of a glimpse of the chaos the two six-year-olds had caused.

"Yes; Minato refused to stop gushing about it for weeks, but you didn't hear that from me. Minato suggested that we-" she broke off, trying to ignore the further crashes from the kitchen.

There were a few moments of silence filled with the crashes of pandemonium from the kitchen, and an invisible twitch appeared over her right eyebrow. She lasted perhaps two minuets before moving from her seat with surprising speed, ordering the three to get themselves out of her kitchen with a voice usually unheard from the quiet woman.

Jiraiya had never seen his student move from his room so fast in his life, taking his seat once again. Jiraiya wondered how such a quite woman could strike the fear of god into his old student without resorting to Tsunade-like temper fits. He found himself suddenly playing human shield to the two six-year-olds, who had taken refuge behind the back of his chair.

What on earth did she _do?_

"Itachi, your mum is scary, yeah…" Deidara whispered poking his head around from the man's leg cautiously; Mikoto's frustrated grumbling could be heard emerging from the kitchen.

Itachi said nothing, he simply gripped the man's trouser leg that much harder; he had severely rethought his view of the woman he called mother in the past few months. He wondered if babies were altogether healthy if they turned women as sweet as his mother into…

"So, did you read my book?" Jiraiya asked his student, who was giving the kitchen door a weary glance.  
His attention snapped back to his teacher and he grinned.

"Of course I read it! Fugaku and Kushina have too, but those two were more interested in that new smut series you put out" he frowned, though whether that be at the smut novel or the lack of appreciation for the other novel was unspecified.

"I'll bet! It was a complete flop in the sales… Now my new Icha Icha series, that's a best-seller series in the making!" Jiraiya leaned back in the chair giving a loud laugh that finally prompted the two boys to his presence in their home.

"J-Jiraiya-Sama?!" Itachi spluttered.

He turned a mortified shade of red and immediately let go of the man's trouser leg. Damn Deidara! What on earth was he thinking, grabbing the trousers of such a respected ninja like that? That was unprofessional and humiliating!

Deidara stared at the man with raised eye brows before looking up at his father.  
"Dad, who's this old grandpa?"

Jiraiya spluttered, Minato roared with laughter, and Itachi really wished he could claim he was no acquaintance of the blonde boy. Deidara, for his part remained relatively confused.

"What? What's so funny dad? Why are you laughing so mu-"

A shriek from the kitchen distracted their attention; identify the shriek was simple and Minato concluded it had not been generated by some sort of kitchen disaster. This in mind he sped back into the kitchen, and was far from pleased with what he found.

A rivulet of blood ran from her temple and red marks on her neck indicated what the equivalent of Iwagakure's ANBU had just attempted. She elbowed him in the stomach, ramming a Kunai into his side as he entered the room. The man dodged the blow only to find himself walking into the fabled yellow flash.

"I have hiraishin seals all over this house, you aren't going anywhere" Minato growled, landing a severe blow to the back of the man's head, before reappearing directly in front of him.

"What the blazes are you doing bra- Holy Fire!" Jiraiya swore upon investigating all the noise and narrowed his eyes at the intruder; said intruder was looking remarkably less calm even with the half mask that covered his features.

"Dad! Auntie Miki!"  
"Mother!"

Itachi paled at the sight in front of him; fighting in the middle of the battlefield was one thing, seeing the blood on his mothers head was quite different… and why was she clutching her side like that?

A glance at his step-father had him looking elsewhere. The jovial quality that had been eyes moments previously was gone; in place of his step father was an enraged Hokage. A glance to Deidara showed the boy to be as equally pale as himself. Jiraiya picked up on their unease and bustled them to action.

"Don't just stand their brats, come help your mother… step-mother… just give me a hand here!" he ordered, moving to examine the woman with his limited medical knowledge.

Her head injury was a mere scratch, and the marks on her neck would bruise but that was it. Her side however, now that had him worried.

"Something's wrong with him… Something's wrong! He… shit, no Naruto, not now…! He's not ready yet, no!" Mikoto winced, hand going to her side once again.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at the name, but his mind was soon drifting to other matters; he had spent enough time with Tsunade to know when babies were at least at minor risk, and this was one of those times. Mikoto needed to get to the hospital, and quickly.

"Come on Miki, we need to get Tsunade to give you a once over" he encouraged.

Deidara and Itachi had decided they would do best as guards, and both boys stood ready to aim should the man actually escape from the Hokage's throat hold. Deidara held tiny balls of clay in his hands, and Itachi two Kunai with white knuckles.

"You dare attack my wife in my own home you dirty scum of a ninja?" Minato hissed the moment Mikoto was taken from the room.

Behind his half-mask, the Iwagakure ninja paled.

* * *

It had been two months since the attack from the Iwagakure ninja, and Mikoto was very grumpy; not even the daily bunches of dyed carnations from the Yamanaka flower shop from her husband could lighten her gloomy mood.

Being confined to her own home and the village (allowed outside under one of Fugaku's best illusions only) had been bearable - she had only been closing on six months when she had been attacked, but the baby's drain on her chakra system had already been telling, so she had no need to venture outside anyway.

Being confined to a private residency ward in the hospital with only Tsume and Inochi - who never seemed to stop talking - for company was not bearable. Unlike during her confinement to her own home, she hardly saw Sasuke and Itachi, and Minato was reluctant to visit more than he already did should another spy pick up on her presence and state of health.

The attack had prompted a bout of false contractions, and they very well could have progressed had it not been for Tsunade and Tsume working their magic with unparalleled haste and severity.

The Iwagakure ninja had, according to Inochi who had supervised the matter himself, been left in a permanent vegetative state after Ibiki had finished with him. Apparently Minato's face had been enough reason for him to declare the man a suitable candidate for the more gruesome and mentally scarring tortures.

Mikoto supposed she should be disgusted by this information (especially since Inochi went into so much detail) but given the man had tried to kill her and her unborn son, she decided he damn well had it coming to him.

But that didn't make her any less bored; aside from the increasing movement from Naruto and the interaction with Tsume and Inochi, Konoha hospital was a very boring place.

* * *

The fire temple was usually a calm place; the priests were quiet people, going about their business of prayers and caring for the main religious centre in fire country.

One day in mid September - the tenth to be precise - however, the Seer had one of the few visions that would be made in her life. The Seer was the only woman in the temple of any meaningful status, and her infrequent visions were well heeded.

Though rare, they were very accurate; catastrophes that would have been cause by increased monsoons in Water Country had been avoided thanks to those visions and communications with the fast acting ninja of Konoha. The priests never saw cause to doubt her visions, and they made sure that the knowledge they provided was used correctly.

So when the brunette woman began screaming, eyes clouded over and body contorting in the middle of the temple gardens with no warning, they were very worried. Even Chiruku himself had never seen a reaction as violent as the one she displayed, and he had known her all his life.

By the time the vision was over, she was a shaking heap muttering incoherently. This was often the case with her visions, as they took time to recover from, but this was different. Unadulterated terror and unmitigated horror were burned into her eyes.

She spoke only one word, over and over again; _'demon'_

It took several days for the woman to calm and finally relay the disastrous sights she had witnessed, and her old friend was aghast at the news.

As its calm nature held little need for serious staffing, the later months of the year usually allowed the monks to visit their families and friends, or simply their home villages; there were usually only two or three monks in total to care for the building during these months.

As such, there was no way to message the Hokage other than a messenger pigeon that had seen comparatively better days, and comparatively better messages. As Chiruku sent the messenger bird on its way with the coded message, he prayed that the message would be received in time.

* * *

"Kushina! What are you doing here?!" Mikoto gawked.

She fought of Tsume and Inochi's protests, freed herself from the prison-like bed sheets and made her greeting with the red-headed woman.

"I finished that mission early; never let Kurenai near water in that dress of hers till she can stand on it, okay? That thing is nowhere near suited for swimming" the grate in Kushina's voice told Mikoto she would be better of not knowing how Kushina had come to that conclusion.

"But holy fire, you're as big as a cow! You look fit to burst!" Kushina stated with a cheerful grin directed towards her protruding bump.  
"Twenty-one days tomorrow" Mikoto smiled, allowing herself to be dragged to a chair by the window by a frazzled Tsume.

"Yeah, and the way you keep moving around, you'd think that kid was coming now! Why on earth can't you just sit still? Or stay in bed or-"  
"Tsume, breathe girl" Inochi instructed, giving the woman a soothing pat on the shoulder.

Tsume took a few much-needed breaths of air.  
"Seriously though, why can't you just follow Tsunade-sama's instructions and stay in bed?" Inochi complained teasingly.

Mikoto wrinkled her nose at the thought.

"I don't know! I just can't sit down! I need to move around or I'll go crazy! When are the boys due to pop by? Minato promised to bring them up today," she informed them, turning her reply to Tsume.

"I don't know, about eight I think; they wont get up without Minato or one of us, and Minato wont get away from the paperwork very soon" the brunette woman replied, frowning in concentration for a few moments.

Mikoto sighed.

"I guess I'll just have to make do with you and Kushina then" she teased.  
"What do you mean make do with?!"

It appeared that Tsume had been correct with her assumption that Minato would be waylaid by the bane of all Kages, and so it was Fugaku who arrived with the three energetic boys. In a rare show of uninhibited emotion, Itachi clamped himself to his mother's leg when she stood up to greet him and rescue his father from Sasuke's hair-chomping.

He understood that his mother was now a target for Iwagakure, but he didn't like staying with his father. His father couldn't cook very well; he was worse than his other dad (it was easer to say than fight himself over which honorific to use).

Sasuke was OK, he always was unless he got a hold of someone's hair or if you tried to take away a particularly well-liked cat toy (that was when the problems started), but it just wasn't the same.

"Mama!"

Sasuke stretched his arms out to his mother eagerly, going so far as to even bite his father in the attempt to greet her. His father scowled and promptly handed the boy to his mother, who took him into her arms with resignation.

"Sasuke, it's not nice to bite people" she chided.

Sasuke ignored her, snuggling his small face into her pitch coloured hair. A small grating sound told her he had already drawn a mouthful. She raised an eyebrow at the action and looked at her cousin questioningly.

"He missed you" Fugaku stated bluntly.

Mikoto laughed.  
"I see. I hope he behaved himself?"

Fugaku scowled but said nothing; Mikoto took that to mean Sasuke had taken her absence to pursue his favourite pastime in greater depth.

"Mother, when are you coming home?" Itachi asked, one hand still firmly holding onto the bottom of the hospital gown she wore.

"About three more weeks Itachi. Naruto isn't ready to say hello just yet," she informed him smiling.

Itachi pouted; he didn't want any more of his father's food. He missed his mothers cooking; for one thing, it was actually edible! Sasuke missed her two, even if he didn't know how to display it in a manner other than furiously trying to eat her hair.

"Eh? Three weeks? That's so looong!" Deidara whined, giving her waistline a glaring pout as if it would speed up the process.

Tsume snorted.  
"If she doesn't stop moving around, I think we'll have an early birth on our hands" she grumbled, giving her friend an irritated look.

Mikoto shot her a glare only an Uchiha could in retaliation.

"Tsume, I've been caged up in her for almost four months! Six if you include the house arrest! I don't think a little movement is going to do me any harm" she informed the brunette woman pointedly.

Fugaku's eyes widened.  
"Moving around you said?" he asked in alarm.

Inochi raise a brow in confusion.

"She hasn't sat down for more than ten minuets all day, why?"  
"Because this is exactly what happened when Sasuke and Itachi were born; her pain tolerance is extraordinary, and she never noticed she had even been having contractions until her wat-"

There was a splash, and three heads snapped to the coal haired woman in alarm. Mikoto was too busy staring in surprise at the liquid that had suddenly spilled onto the floor to notice their alarm.

"Oh my, that was my water breaking wasn't it?" she asked sheepishly.

Pandemonium erupted in the private maternity ward of Konoha hospital.

* * *

Minato glared at the large pile of paperwork that seemed to have grown since her first set foot in his office that morning. He was supposed to be visiting Mikoto with the boys right now, but he had once again been trapped by the bane of all Hokages. Kushina had already sent in her report and dropped by at the hospital with the message that Fugaku would her visitor instead.

Minato briefly wondered if he could get away with sneaking out of the office to visit his wife, but he was certain that the pink haired woman that was serving as his current assistant would drag him back by the ear if she discovered he had left.

He had resigned himself to the inevitable unwelcome thought of skipping his usual visit when the said assistant burst into the room, trying and failing to stop two six-year-olds from approaching the desk

"Dad, Dad, Auntie Miki started yelling a lot! Uncle Fugaku said she was having convulsions!"  
"Deidara! What have I told you about disturbing your father like this? He's a very busy man!" Moriko Haruno reprimanded the blonde boy with a strict tone.

"But Auntie Miki is having convulsions!" Deidara repeated, stressing the words.

Minato frowned.

"what are you talking about Deidara?"  
"Convulsions! Mum said the baby was giving her convulsions, so we had to come get you!" Deidara clarified impatiently.

Itachi gave a hasty nod of his head, going so far as to tug on the man's flame-dyes coat.  
Once he'd heard the proper context, his sons words clicked into pace and Minato's eyes widened.

"Moriko, I'm leaving!" he stated quickly.

He picked up the two boys with haste, indicating for his own son to take position atop his shoulders whilst he held Itachi to his side with the crook of one arm. Deidara noted the hand seals he was making and gave a whoop of delight. Itachi barely had time for his eyes to widen in confusion before they had disappeared from the office- before Minato's' pink-haired assistant could blink.

* * *

After finally realising she had been having contractions for several hours, Mikoto had only been in labour for perhaps ten or fifteen minuets. He almost hadn't made it to the hospital in time with his two passengers, but he had managed it._ Unfortunately_, he had been literally manhandled from the room upon immediate arrival with Fugaku by Tsunade.

For twenty minuets, he sat frozen on a chair outside the room growing pale as his usually calm, polite, cheerful week screamed curses that could only have been picked up from Kushina. Itachi too was staring wide eyed at the door in horror; he hadn't realised the birth of his newest sibling would be so traumatizing or painful.

Itachi made another decision at that moment; he decided that he would never, ever, allow a woman to go through such pain if he could avoid it. He knew that there was a link between men, women babies and being married, and decided that the way to avoid the situation was to remove two of the factors; if that meant he remained un-married and limited his interaction with girls till the day he died, then so be it.

Deidara, for his part, was simply bored of all the waiting. Thankfully, he did not have to wait for long; the door opened and Tsunade emerged with a triumphant look upon her face, a small, wailing, pink bundle in her arms.

"I think this is the first lucky bet I've ever made…" she mumbled to herself.

She headed towards the anxious blonde with a triumphant look on her face, seemingly oblivious to the loud noises the baby in her arms was making. Deidara and Itachi stared at the baby in amazement, wondering how something so small could be so loud. Deidara hoped this meant his brother would be a co conspirator for his pranks.

Itachi vowed never to have children if they made so much noise all the time.

"Congratulations, you have one female sproglet; Miki's fine, tired but fine" Tsunade informed Minato, victory in her voice as she handed him the small baby.  
"Say what?" Minato asked, seemingly confused by her information.

"I said you have a baby girl Minato" she grinned.

Minato stared at her, then at the loud pink-wrapped blonde baby he now held.

"Huh?!"

* * *

_**I lied again, this will be five chapters long, not four; I'm certain of it this time. **_  
_**The aftermath of the Kyuubi is taking longer to write up than I thought.**_

_**Hope you liked this chapter!**_  
_**Nat.**_  
_**xxx**_


	4. Act IV: The Precipice Of Calamity

**DIVERSE INHERITANCE**

* * *

**SCENE IV  
~ ON THE PRECIPICE OF CALAMITY ~**

* * *

A roar rushed through the wind, a thick, vicious, howl of a roar; monstrous and terrifying to those of the temple who heard it. Chiruku was amongst those who saw the creature that created the blood-curdling, chilling sound. In the distance, the hazy demonic outline could be made out, and a terrible fear clogged his throat at the sight of the monsters mere shadow.

"Start the evacuation!" Chiruku ordered loudly to the terrified monks, dodging a swipe of wind created by the creature's clawed paw.

The earthquakes were the first thing to worry about however; the demon had yet to arrive, and Konoha were already on their way. Minato had already written to confirm as such. Until the evacuations were done, he would do his best to ignore it. Once all the aids and workers were out of the way, he would organise the monks themselves and join the ninjas.

"Good idea, but that doesn't really fit into my plans"

The head monk whirled, gluing his gaze to one of the closer spires of the temple; a man with a black-striped orange mask stared down at the chaos. Chiruku frowned as the man held up a small grey object.

Feathers?  
No…!

"I can't have you monks mumbling your little chants in the middle of my designs, now can I? Religion and demons simply don't mix after all"

Another howl echoed through the valley as the monster let rip another earth shattering blast of chakra.

* * *

"Hells Miki! She's got her Sharingan already!" Minato exclaimed quietly.

He was seated on the end of the bed his wife occupied, staring at his tiny female clone in amazement; he could see Mikoto's face in her, but there was no question that she was his daughter with such bright straw-yellow strands on her tiny head.

Naruto Namikaze was born at precisely nine thirty-seven in the evening in the private wards of Konoha hospital She had a short patch of hair yellow as his, weighed just under nine pounds, was nineteen in height, and had bright cerulean eyes (though they could darken with time).

She seemed to be a very quiet baby now that she had grown accustomed to her new surroundings; upon meeting cold air for the first time, she had been more displeased than Deidara and Minato had been forced to wonder if Deidara's energy was completely Kushina after all.

The tiny, sleepy, red swirling eyes stared up at the surroundings blearily, filled with curiosity, burning the image into her memory before closing again; he knew the requirements for the base activation of bloodlines, and he was amazed. How could she tell she meant more than the earth to him? That he would rather die than let anything harm her at only a few hours old?

The idea was floundering, but made him feel rather gooey.

"Wonder if you'll remember this when you're all grown up? Hmm? Whaddaya think?" he asked the tiny child.

Mikoto gave a quiet laugh from the hospital bed she had been forced back into.  
"My father is going to be thrilled; she wasn't supposed to have it in the first place."

The doors opened and two six-year-olds hurried into the room, Itachi carrying his younger brother and trying to ignore the boy's young teeth gnawing in his shoulder-length locks. He greeted his mother quietly, having no desire to have the small baby begin yelling.

"I thought you said she was going to be a boy?" Deidara asked his father, climbing up onto the bed beside him to get a better view of his sister.

Minato laughed.

"I though she was going to be a boy, I was certain of it, your Aunt Miki too. I guess we have another practical joker on our hands, huh shrimp?" he ruffled Deidara's hair with one hand, the small female still secure in his other arm.

"I'm not a shrimp, yeah! And you can't say I take after Mum any more if she's a prankster too!" Deidara moaned, batting the hand away from his now messy shoulder length sunny locks.

"Nothing you say will change the fact that you are a shrimp, Deidara" Minato informed him flatly, earning a small smile from Itachi.

"Graaagh! Just you wait, yeah! I'll drink loads of milk and then I'll get taller than you, yeah!" the boy raged, glaring at his father and new step-brother.

All the excitement roused the sleeping baby, and her blue eyes stared up at her father, small fussing noises emerging from her, expressing her interest in her surroundings. Her father broke out a goofy grin at the actions, and the two boys looked rather sheepish at having woken the small girl.

"Of course you will Deidara; now do you want to hold your sister?" his father asked, completely unaffected by his sons glare.

Deidara nodded warily, moving his arms as his father transferred his sister into his arms. He had never held a baby before, and the small girl seemed to sense his nervousness and began to squirm - trying to find the security that she had felt in her father's arms. She gargled her slight displeasure when her head was left hanging for a few moments.

"Uwah! She moves! I can't keep hold of her! I'll drop her yeah!!" Deidara cried in alarm as she squired in his hold.  
"Of course she moves you dolt!" Itachi snickered.  
"Daaad! Take her back before I drop her, Yeah!" the blonde begged, not at all confident holding his sister.  
"Its all right, just make sure you support her head; she cant hold it by herself well yet - see, let her rest it in the crook of your am like this…"

The Hokage gave his son some proper instruction on how to hold the girl, angling his arm to act as a cushion for her head and the squirming soon stopped. The small girl stared up at her brother curiously.

"She's really tiny!" Deidara gawped, and Itachi sniggered at the almost offended look on his sister's face.  
"That's babies for you Deidara." Minato informed the blonde boy.  
"She's quiet; I though babies were supposed to scream a lot yeah?" Deidara asked curiously.

Minato quickly paled.

"They do - don't jinx it for us just yet!"  
"Eh? Me too?" Deidara stared at his sister dubiously.  
"Deidara, since the moment you were born, I can't think of a single hour you haven't been making some sort of noise"

Deidara glared at his father and the snickering Itachi.

"I was this small?" he asked, clearly not believing his fathers words.

"Yep, and since you're her big brother, you've got to look after her, okay?" the man grinned, turning his gaze to Itachi as well; the dark haired boy gave a simple nod of acknowledgement - being an older brother would not be a new experience for him.

Deidara blushed, but nodded.

"…Okay"

Mikoto smiled at the interaction of her extended family - any worries that her own two boys would get along with her son-now-daughter seemed completely irrational now. Deidara and Itachi (in his own way) had taken to Naruto like ducks to water, and Itachi seemed to be dropping his formality around Minato.

Minato had always wanted a girl, but he had been adamant about a boy first when he was younger - Mikoto didn't quite understand that logic, but she had smiled and nodded all the same. She understood that thought a little better now; with three older brothers around she wouldn't have to worry about her daughter as much as she might have.

There was no question that their daughter would be a ninja, but there was also no question that ninja life was not a pretty one. With Itachi and Deidara around, their daughter would be lucky to grow up without rose coloured goggles - though that might not be such a bad thing.

She was certain Sasuke would prove just as protective; he had long since abandoned his frantic chewing on Itachi's hair to stare at his younger sibling with fervent inquisitiveness.

"Can I hold my daughter now?" she asked jokingly.  
"Ah! Sorry Aunt Miki!"

Deidara hurriedly moved to transfer the small bundle to her mother, not recognising the humour in her voice. He looked on enviously as Mikoto took her daughter with far more practised ease than he had. The small baby glanced up at her mother, raising a small fist to grasp and tug with interest at a few strands of her mother's soft black hair.

"Welcome to the world Naruto" Mikoto smiled.

* * *

Minato sat at the end of the bed, staring into the incubator; Naruto was an early baby - she hadn't been due till the 31st. She was a whole 21 days early, and she had surprised them once again by being a girl.

They really had been certain she was a boy.

She was definitely from ninja family; she had confused them before she was even born, arrived unexpectedly, and that Sharingan she had been packing was a complete mystery.

Mikoto had been certain the Sharingan wouldn't be passed on. It was patriarchal, so why did she have it in the first place?

"What's wrong?" Mikoto asked.  
"Nothing, I just think she's going to be a troublemaker when she grows up" he smiled.

"What? Why?" she asked curiously.  
"Don't know, but I get the feeling that with all these surprises she's given us, there'll be plenty more in the future" he grinned.

"I don't understand how she could have activated it… The Sharingan has never manifested outside the family before, there are strict techniques in place to make sure, but…" she left the obvious difference hanging.

Those techniques were only used on men who married outside the family - there had never been a need to use them on women before.

"Maybe it has to do with her chakra Capac-"  
A loud bag interrupted him as the door to the hospital room was thrown open by Inochi.

"Minato, the fire temple was attacked!" he gasped, trying to regain his breath.

"What? But what about the transmissions? We would have received one if there were any problems!" Minato asked, head snapping towards the exhausted man.

"I don't know! We were on the way back from grass country when we passed! I didn't see much, but it looked like an earthquake had hit! I don't think there were many survivors…" Inochi replied gravely.

"There aren't any earthquakes in fire country, volcanoes, but we don't get earthquakes Inochi; none of the fault lines are big enough" Minato frowned.

"Then go tell the Daimyo to get a team of geologists down there because unless Chiruku is crazy, that is the only explanation for what happened!" Inochi yelled, tugging on his hair in confusion.

"Chiruku? What about him? Damn it Inochi, what did he say?!" Minato asked with exasperation.  
"He said a demon attacked them; a freaking demon! How messed up is tha-"

There was a crash from behind them; Minato turned to look at his wife who was slumped on the floor, eyes wide and shaking with shock. Seeing the focus of attention on her she pulled herself up and did her best to calm herself before looking at the two of them directly.

"Did Chiruku say what kind of demon it was?" she asked in a very business like business tone.  
"Miki, you can't seriously believe-"  
"What kind of demon was it Inochi?!" she near yelled.

The raise in temper was enough for Inochi to take her distress seriously.  
"Fox, a nine tailed fox…" he replied quickly.

The horror on his wife's face was more than enough to tell Minato something had gone horribly wrong.

* * *

"Itachi, can you go get me my sealing supplies? You can remember the way can't you?" Mikoto asked as she leafed through one of the dusty clan scrolls.

Itachi nodded, and turned from the table and headed for the ladder to the surface.

The moment Inochi had mentioned the Kyuubi, a cold sweat had enveloped her; she didn't remember much about her grandfather, but she remembered his stories of his father - of Madara Uchiha. One of the stores in particular was about his battle with Hashirama Senju.

Even from a distance the roar of a demon had been unmistakable to him, and the nine-tailed form had not been so difficult to make out on the horizon. He had not seen the battle itself, but as his team had arrived to assist the first Hokage, he had spotted the swirling tomoe in the eye of the demon before it disappeared to whence it came.

He'd never had much praise for that man - in fact he had been openly disgusted with the man, going so far as to call him a monster. She'd never paid much attention to those stories when she was younger, and Fugaku had completely dismissed them, but Inochi's news was chilling.

Madara had always seemed power hungry in those stories; they often centred on archaic bedtime stories for scaring children into sleep - those stories of pure monstrous manifestations of chakra, and monsters merging into one beast more terrifying than all together.

Only, whenever grandfather had told her of them, they never sounded like bedtime stories. Nothing sounded like a children's story when it was about Madara. Especially not the last one he had ever told her; there was far to much betrayal in that story for it to be a myth.

She'd explained to Minato at one side, but he only had a temporary solution - a very stupid temporary solution at that. Taking care of the demon was all well and good, but taking care of her great-grandfather was more important; if he did not disappear, then there was no guarantee sealing the Kyuubi would have any point at all.

So, for the first time in probably a hundred years, she had broken into the forgotten underground archives in search of the old scrolls - she didn't know how long these old libraries had been left forgotten, but if they were as old as Madara this was here the solution would be.

If there was anything that could undo the hypnosis on the demon, it would be here in, and the same was true on a method to rid the world of her insane ancestor once and for all.

Going back to the shelf-lined walls, she pulled out a lead sealed scroll gingerly; whatever it was written on was not parchment. She had the sickening feeling it was a skin of some kind, but squeamishness did not get rid of maniacal ancestors.

Looking over the scroll, she found the section she was looking for, and her breath hitched in the back of her throat; the final bed time story had been right after all. Even her ancestor was susceptible to betrayal.

The door of the shrine door rattled on its slider, and a sigh of relief expulsed from her throat.

Some of these scroll had some well made seals on, and without her more specialised inks and other sealing equipment, she might as well burn them to cinders right there and then for all the use they would be.

"Itachi, hurry up with those inks!" she called, hearing movement behind her.  
"My apologies, but Itachi is otherwise engaged"

Mikoto whirled, kunai already drawn from her sealing-wristbands. She couldn't see the man's face in the shadow of the cellar scroll library, but his mere presence in the room spoke in itself. Only those with Uchiha blood could get down to this cellar, and only the main lineage even knew of its existence.

Given that most of her family members were out on the front line trying to stall the demon, she couldn't imagine who else could have intruded on her than the one she was intent on removing from existence.

"You!" she snarled.

The man chuckled from his shadowy hideout.

"I wondered what a woman was doing down here, and with such a frantic expression; it seems my suspicions would be spot on" the man spoke in a rather offhand manner.

"I actually listened to the old stories; the Kyuubi has never been an omen of anything but of your mal-intent, and when stories have that much betrayal in them, there is no way they could have been stories!" she replied carefully - she would be a fool to underestimate him.

"And here I though all my descendants were such simpletons" he chuckled.  
"What did you do to Itachi?" she demanded.  
"I left a clone behind to delay him; I have no intentions of spilling the blood of your children just yet" he said in a patronizingly soothing manner.

Her ears did not fail to catch the meaning of his words.  
"You swine! What do you want with her?!" Mikoto snarled loudly.

"Many things, but I want to watch her first; I'm intrigued to see how one of the Sharingan bloodline handles the strongest of the tailed beasts, but I hardly think that's any concern of yours" the man whispered from behind her.

Her eyes widened as the image in front of her dissolved, and sound of sliced skin filled the stagnant underground chamber. Before she hit the stone slabs, she forced raw chakra into her fingertips.

As the man stepped over her body, pausing only to pick up the scroll that had dropped to the floor, she used her last moments to gouge the chakra into the stone before her last moment completely bled across cold floor; she didn't last to hear her ancestor slam the door, completely sealing the forgotten archives once again.

* * *

Deidara watched his father dash from shelf to shelf, unfurling scrolls in foreign tongues he couldn't read, and archaic languages he'd never even seen as he searched for a way to stop the demon on path to ravaging the village. He'd never seen such a desperate look on his face before.

Not even hours earlier when his sister had been born had he looked so horrifyingly frantic, and that notion scared him more than he liked to let on. The nightmares he never remembered always left a sick fear crawling all over his skin, and that feeling was crawling back watching his father so panicked.

"Dad, what's going on?" he asked tentatively from the doorway.

His father knocked over the picture on his desk in surprise as he turned to the door, the glass in the flame shattering as it landed on the floor. It was of one of the few times Mikoto had been allowed out of the apartment at the beginning of her pregnancy, at one of the festivals.

"Deidara? What are you doing here, you should be in the evacuation shelters squirt" he sighed, relaxing even as he tried to reprimand the small boy standing in the doorway.

"Aunt Miki hasn't come back yet... What's happening?" he asked quietly.

Minato knew his son was no idiot - the boy wouldn't have graduated so early if he had been; Deidara could tell something was causing him a great deal of distress.

"Something very bad, Deidara. Something very bad" he sighed, casting a glance to the array of scrolls and plethora of old, near forgotten techniques.

He'd raided the vault of techniques in the main Hokage building for a way to stop the monster fox; searched through all the cacophony of hundred year old scrolls for something, anything other than the one technique that had the largest chance of succeeding.

Mikoto had left mumbling to herself about some old library, making him promise to wait until she had found something, but Deidara was right. Mikoto had been gone for hours with no word; she had taken Itachi with her for exactly that purpose.

Either she was still searching or something had gone very wrong. If she didn't come back soon then he would have no choice but to proceed with his original idea.

A tug on his sleeve jolted him from his thoughts, and he stared down at his now six-year-old son; Deidara was usually very calm despite his activity. He'd been on a few missions with the boy with his own team, and he knew that Deidara could keep a level headed attitude in the face of blood-curdling carnage.

He'd never looked more like a child than he did now, and it was all his fault. If he'd just thought to send a team when the usual message from the temple was delayed...

No, that was not the issue at the moment - the issue was stopping that monster of chakra from reaching the village, and at the moment he had only one fool-proof way of ensuring that.

He picked up his son and gave him a crushing hug - one that was returned with panicked confusion even amidst understanding; this was the last time he would talk to his son, so the time would be spent wisely. He set the boy back down on the ground, bending down and putting his hands on his shoulders.

"Deidara, do you remember what I told you at the hospital?" he asked seriously, giving the boy sincere eye contact.  
"To look after Naruto" the boy replied, unease entering his expression.

"Do think you can promise me something else?" he asked with a weak grin.

Deidara paused - Minato was in no doubt that he knew exactly what this conversation meant. He could see the glisten of tears trying to force themselves from their ducts as Deidara frowned in thought. After a short moment of consideration, he bit his lip and gave a short, firm nod of his head.

"Can you look after your Aunt Miki for me too?" he asked.

Deidara tried to nod his head but child won over responsible ninja, and he settled for fixing his arms around his father's neck and sniffling into his shoulder instead.

Minato was man enough to admit he lat the same salty drops fall from his own eyes as he mumbled almost inaudible apologies in his son's ear.

* * *

Minato watched as his daughter stared at the chaos taking place around them; blood, chunks of flesh and bright bone poked out from the broken buildings. A roar from the Kyuubi deafened him, and the vibrating wind rushed past over his skin. Gritting his teeth, he focused his chakra on the permanent seal on Gamabunta's head.

After a brief weightless feeling, the bangs and crashes of the Kyuubi's destruction could be heard over the desperate cries of the village ninja attempting to hold it back. He felt Gamabunta lurching beneath him as they drew closer to the beast itself; he tightened his hold on the tiny baby he was carrying.

"You don't have to do this sonny; surely you don't want to leave her an orphan? Jiraiya could do it, or Hizuren!" Gamabunta gargled loudly.

"I know that, but… What kind of village leader would I be if I let someone else take my place? Besides, she won't be an orphan; she'll have Mikoto, Kushina, Fugaku, and she has three older brothers to look after her! I'll bet anything that old priest will keep an eye out too…" he replied quickly, to avoid doubting the decision himself.

Naruto began to squirm, trying to look around as Gamabunta took another grumbling leap towards the cause of the devastation. He glanced down once ad found her eyes a blazing red. God, she was going to remember this wasn't she? He didn't want that, anything but that.

She seemed fascinated rather than terrified, but something was making her uneasy. If there wasn't, she wouldn't have activated the Sharingan after the initial birth activation.

Putting her through this was bad enough, but could he do it knowing she would remember? She would remember at some point, he knew for a fact. He didn't want this to be the only memory of him she had. But did he have a choice? Mikoto had been insistent he use her when revealed the sealing plan. He still didn't understand why, but he had never seen her so uneasy before.

Salty tears stung at his eyes, and he knew they weren't from the wind as Gamabunta took another leap. The demon let out a long bone-chilling howl and Naruto's fear was finally vocalised.

"Say that like you meant it will you Minato?" Gamabunta muttered.

A choking sob crackled at the back of his throat as he looked down at the tiny blonde baby once again.

"Gimme a break Bunta! I don't particularly want to say it!" Minato grumbled in reply as Gamabunta skidded to a halt perhaps half a kilometre from the demon itself.

He could see the shady outline of a man atop its head, and remembered a warning from Mikoto as such - _'Do not underestimate that man Minato; it'll be the death of you if you do'_

He didn't really understand what this was all about, but he trusted her; if she was warning him about the guy, he was not to be trifled with. Gamabunta took another leap forward, and there was perhaps a hundred meters between himself and the demon itself; it was a monstrous thing up close. Snarling and slavering at the mere sight of him.

The hot reek of bloody breath engulfed him, and he felt ill. God, the thing itself was terrifying without the chakra. He didn't dare think of what it would be like in sage mode - he wasn't very skilled with that, but he could imagine the horror if he felt so repulsed without it.

Speaking of chakra… something was wrong with it. It was disturbed. He took a closer look at the creatures face - its eyes were swivelling uncontrollably. Odd, it was as if it was resisting something… a familiar set of spiralling dots flashed in one of the carnivore's eyes before swivelling once again.

No… It couldn't be! He snapped his eyes towards the closer figure in suspicion. He couldn't tell if he had the Sharingan from this distance but he was certain of it; it would explain why Mikoto was so wary of him. He did wonder how a mere Sharingan could control a demon, but to more important matters.

At least he knew why Mikoto was so insistent on Naruto being the host; the Sharingan may be advantageous in controlling it later on. He hoped it would never come to that though. He didn't recon much to the chances of no interaction with it, but he could dream.

He turned his gaze down to the baby once again, forcing a smile onto his face; if she was going to remember this, then the least he could do was make sure her only memory of him wasn't completely depressing.

"With any luck, you'll never reach eight tails of chakra, so I'm going to take this time to apologize for what I'm doing to you. Though if we do meet again, you'll probably kick me in the nuts for this anyway!" he joked, ignoring the tears splashing down from his face to hers.

With haste, he quickly held her closer to him, and he felt her tiny hand clamping onto one of the yellow spikes atop his head; did she know what was happening? He wouldn't put it past her. She had given them so many surprises already, after all. Her crying was dimming at the closer contact, comfort.

Oh god, what was he about to do?

"I'm so sorry Naruto, but there's no other way. Just stiffen that upper lip for Daddy okay? This won't take long, I promise!" he choked, forcing his own fingers to unclench hers from the yellow strands.

Taking a deep breath, he bit his thumb and lowered the girl in his arms; he took great care to make create the base seals. Kushina and Mikoto could create the finishing touches and activate the eight trigrams, but the dead demon seal needed to be cast before the finalities could be added.

This was the only part of the sealing he would remain in contact with his daughter for; he took one last look at her before activating one of the seals he had placed on her. The bloody symbols gave of a soft yellow glow as he funnelled his chakra into them.

"Forgive me… Reverse summoning: Flying Thunder God Technique!"

* * *

The howl of the Kyuubi was bone chilling to those who heard it; for a select few in the village shrine, it was accompanied by the arrival of a small baby girl in a flash of yellow light. At the far side of the village, the howls were distant, but the flurried voices of preparation did not drown them out.

"Make sure she's in the centre of the seal Deidara! If she's out by so much as a millimetre it won't work!" Kushina ordered - with Mikoto out of action and Fugaku next to useless with seals, she was the only one with any knowledge on the seal.

Though in all honestly, she'd slept through most of her lessons on seals. A level twelve was her limit - the one Minato was using was twenty seven. She was well out of her depth, and was mentally cursing Jiraiya for being out of the village at such a crucial time.

"I know mum!" Deidara replied testily.

He was having a few problems persuading his sister to let go of his fringe long enough to put her in the centre of the chalk-drawn seal on the floor.

"That's my hai-Ow! Mum, get her of my hair, yeah! Ow! Ow!"

He winced as the girl tugged sharply, eyes red and swirling with fascination. Fugaku came to the boys rescue, gently prying her hands from the bright straw coloured locks.

"Go sit down so you don't get in the way Deidara" he instructed.  
"Yes Mr. Uchiha"

Deidara pouted, knowing better than to argue with the man in such serious circumstances. He grumpily sat down on one of the stone floor slabs, watching his mother fussing over the girl with a vial of his father's blood; he did not like this at all.

No one would explain what was happening, other than that the demon attacking the village was going to be sealed inside his sister, but he knew one thing for certain.

After all this was over he would never see his father again; staring out of the crack in the sliding doors, he could see the demon and Gamabunta going head to head.

He didn't know why, but he had a nagging suspicion that something was wrong with this; the temple never forgot to send word. Never. And aunt Miki? She sent too many words sometimes; she was always worrying about something, and when she looked for solutions to problems she always kept an update. Itachi wasn't here either.

Something was very wrong, this was all too coincidental to be natural, and there was nothing he could do to stop his father from sacrificing himself needlessly. A loud bark from the dog belonging to Hana echoed around the battlefield - a long mourning howl.

"That's Hana's signal! It's starting!" Tsume yelled, prompting the adults to take their places at the four corners of the chalk seal on the floor.

Nothing for a few moments as the four adults - his mother, uncle Fugaku, Tsume and Inochi - all concentrated their chakra into the seal on the floor.

Then the baby in the centre of it - in a cushioned basket - began wailing, screaming, and writhing. It was a manner completely unlike the discontent she had displayed when he had accidentally awoken her earlier. it could only be agony.

He turned his eyes away; he couldn't watch it, it was impossible. If he watched, he'd be tempted to wrench her from the centre of the stupid seal and run for it. What good would that do? He turned his gaze to the battle outside instead; the Kyuubi was writing in Gamabunta's grasp, withering away in roaring pain not unlike that of his sister's.

As he watched he caught movement from the corner of the shrine entrance, just beyond the sliding doors; it was only for an instant, but he saw the familiar red swirl of the Sharingan disappearing into the air.

He didn't know why, but he knew that the bringer of misfortune had just left the scene of his latest crime.

* * *

**_Only one more chapter of this to go! I liked writing this chapter - it has foreshadowing in it. I like foreshadowing._**  
**_Hope you liked it! _**

**_Nat._**  
**_xxx_**


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